People who have got into arrears in the past, perhaps had a CCJ or even the self-employed, can sometimes find themselves excluded from the mainstream mortgage market.

Just because you are in this category it does not mean you cannot obtain a competitive mortgage however it does mean that as you could be perceived to be of a higher risk to the lender, and could see the interest rate or terms of the mortgage being less favourable - exactly how much will depend on your individual circumstances.

Quite a few high street lenders are now offering mortgages o those perceived to be high risk and so you could obtain a mortgage quotation from them however some of the best deals are from those who specialise in "sub-prime" or "adverse credit" lending.

They could charge 1-3% more than the best deals from the high street mortgage providers, however if you can demonstrate a couple of years of consistent payments on one of their deals, you will increase your chances of getting a "prime" deal when you are looking to remortgage.

Use the Welcome Home mortgage finding service to get in contact with an independent FSA authorised mortgage advisor who specialises in sub prime/ adverse credit mortgage.