The Client
An employed landlord with a portfolio of mortgaged investment properties. Her income combined salary with rental income from the portfolio. She’d had difficulties with tenants on some properties in the past, including one property that had been repossessed by the lender after rent arrears, with the balance of that debt still in dispute.
The Objective
She wanted to remortgage one of the Buy to Let properties in her portfolio, releasing extra capital and moving onto a cheaper rate that would bring her monthly outgoing down, all while an earlier repossession sat on her credit file.
The Situation
On paper this looks like a routine remortgage. It wasn’t, because of what had happened with one of her other properties. A repossession, especially with a balance still being disputed, tends to be enough on its own to shut down an application before a lender looks any further.
The Challenge
Raising capital and cutting the rate on the same application meant taking on a larger loan, which needed a lender comfortable lending more against the property despite the credit history, not less.
What We Did
We went through our specialist Buy to Let panel checking each lender’s specific criteria for adverse credit against the case before submitting anywhere, to find one genuinely able to accommodate both the adverse credit and the previous repossession.
The Solution
We placed the case with a specialist lender willing to look past the credit history. The result covered everything the client wanted: capital raised, a lower rate secured, and a reduced monthly payment, even with the loan size increased to release the capital.
The Outcome
Everything the client set out to achieve came through in one transaction: capital released, a better rate locked in, and monthly payments down, and this against a credit background that would have stopped most lenders before they got past the first page of the application.
Conclusion
A repossession on the file makes most people assume remortgaging is simply not available to them anymore. That’s true of the mainstream lenders, largely. It isn’t true of the market as a whole. Working a specialist panel meant finding a lender who looked at the full picture of this buy to let case rather than stopping at the credit history and declining on that alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I remortgage a Buy to Let property with a previous repossession on my credit file?
It’s more difficult, but not automatically ruled out. Specialist lenders exist who will assess the wider case rather than declining on a repossession alone, particularly where the circumstances behind it can be explained.
Can I raise capital and reduce my rate on the same remortgage?
Yes – it’s one of the more common reasons landlords remortgage in the first place. Because releasing capital means taking on more borrowing, the lender needs to be comfortable with that larger loan, which becomes a bigger factor when adverse credit is already part of the case.
Does a disputed debt balance affect a mortgage application?
It can, since lenders will typically want to understand the full picture around any outstanding balance, disputed or not. Being upfront about the dispute and its status generally helps rather than hinders the application.
Why would a specialist lender take on a case a mainstream lender wouldn't?
Specialist lenders often build their underwriting specifically around adverse credit and complex cases. They assess affordability and the wider circumstances rather than applying an automatic decline for a past credit event.
Final Thoughts
UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a loan secured against it. Buy-to-let and business-purpose lending secured against investment property is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Call: 01628 969 500
Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk
Related Pages
- Buy to Let Mortgages – whole-of-market advice for landlords and property investors across the UK.
- Bad Credit Mortgages UK – how adverse credit is assessed and what strengthens an application.
- Can I Get a Mortgage in the UK? – how deposit, income and credit profile determine eligibility.
- How Lenders Actually Check Your Income – how salaried and rental income get assessed together.
- Residential Mortgages – whole-of-market advice for main home purchases across the UK.