Adverse Credit Mortgage Specialists
A County Court Judgment on your credit file makes mortgage applications more complex - but it is far from impossible. Specialist lenders assess CCJ cases every day, and with the right broker, many applicants go on to secure approval.
Key point: Lenders look at the age, amount, and whether a CCJ is satisfied before making a decision. A satisfied CCJ is viewed far more favourably than an outstanding one.
A County Court Judgement (CCJ) is a court order issued in England, Wales or Northern Ireland when a creditor takes legal action to recover a debt and the court rules in their favour. CCJs are registered on the Register of Judgements, Orders and Fines and appear on your credit file for six years from the date of the judgement.
If you pay the full amount within one month of the judgement, you can apply to have it removed from the register, as though it never happened. If paid after one month, the CCJ is marked as satisfied on your file but remains visible for the full six-year period.
An unsatisfied CCJ, where the debt has not been repaid, stays on file and is treated as most serious by lenders.
High street lenders will typically decline any application with a CCJ on file, regardless of age or value. This is not because getting a mortgage with a CCJ is impossible: it is because high street lenders use automated credit scoring that flags CCJs as an automatic rejection trigger.
Specialist lenders take a different approach. They use manual underwriting, where a real person reviews your application, and assess CCJs based on age, total value, how many there are, and whether satisfied. A single, satisfied CCJ valued at under £1,000 and over two years old is very different from a recent, unsatisfied CCJ of £10,000.
Age: The older the CCJ, the better. 12 months, 2 years and 3 years are common threshold points in lender criteria. The closer to six years old (when it drops off the file), the wider your options.
Satisfaction status: A satisfied CCJ is significantly easier to place than an unsatisfied one. If you have an outstanding CCJ, settling it before applying is strongly recommended.
Value: Lower value CCJs (under £1,000 to £2,500 depending on the lender) are treated more leniently than high value judgements.
Number: A single CCJ is easier to place than multiple CCJs. Lenders will look at the total value of all CCJs on file. Deposit: For CCJ cases, 15% is the typical minimum for a satisfied CCJ over 2 years old; 20 to 30% is often required for recent or unsatisfied judgements.
First, check your credit file with CheckMyFile to confirm exactly how the CCJ is recorded across all three agencies: the date, value and satisfaction status. Discrepancies between agencies are common and matter.
If the CCJ is unsatisfied and you are able to pay it, do so, then wait for the register to be updated before applying. If the CCJ is already satisfied, check the date it was registered, as this determines which lender criteria apply to your case.
Then speak to a specialist broker who can identify the right lender for your exact position without running a hard search on your file.
At Alexander Southwell, we handle CCJ mortgage cases regularly. We know which lenders apply which thresholds, and we will give you an honest assessment of your options and realistic rate expectations before any application is submitted.
Our specialist advisers have helped many clients with CCJs onto the property ladder. Fee-free advice with no obligation to proceed.
Speak to an AdviserCan you get a mortgage with an unsatisfied CCJ? It is harder but possible. A small number of specialist lenders will consider it, but deposit requirements are typically 20 to 30% and rates are higher. Satisfying the CCJ first significantly improves your options.
How long does a CCJ stay on your credit file? Six years from the date of the judgement. Pay within one month and you can apply to remove it from the register entirely.
What deposit do I need for a mortgage with a CCJ? For a satisfied CCJ over two years old, some specialist lenders accept 15%. For recent or unsatisfied CCJs, 20 to 30% is typically required.
Will a CCJ stop me getting a mortgage? High street banks are unlikely to consider you. Specialist lenders assess the full picture of age, value and status, and many will make an offer.
Should I pay off my CCJ before applying for a mortgage? Yes. Satisfying a CCJ opens significantly more lender options and will result in better rates and terms.
Alexander Southwell Mortgages is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Ref: 1011890). Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. The information on this page is for guidance only and does not constitute financial advice.
Deposit size is the single biggest lever you control. Lenders working with CCJ cases think in loan to value bands, and each band you move down opens more lenders and better pricing. The question is never just how much deposit you have, but which band it puts you in for the age and status of your judgment.
Often, yes. If your CCJ is satisfied and has passed its third birthday, a 5 to 10 percent deposit is realistic with the right lender. Where savings are tight, shared ownership can reduce the deposit needed because you are buying a share of the property rather than all of it, and several specialist lenders accept CCJs on shared ownership applications. A gifted deposit from family is also acceptable to most lenders in this space, provided it is properly documented.
There is no universal rule, because every lender sets its own criteria and many assess on a case by case basis. In practice, the key factors are the number of judgments, the total money owed, how long ago each was issued and whether they are satisfied. One CCJ, settled and a few years old, keeps plenty of doors open. Multiple CCJs, or anything registered in the last twelve months, narrows the field to lenders who underwrite by hand.
Affordability still matters as much as the judgments themselves. A stable income, sensible outgoings and evidence that recent payments have been managed well all reassure lenders that the CCJ was an episode, not a pattern. If a CCJ sits alongside other credit issues such as defaulted payments, lenders assess the whole credit profile together.
A CCJ is recorded on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines and reported to the three credit reference agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Lenders cross check all of this during the application process, along with your electoral roll details and address history. Before you apply, it is worth pulling your full report yourself so nothing on the register takes you by surprise. Our page on credit scores and how lenders read them explains what each agency shows.
Errors happen more often than people realise: judgments served to an old address, debts already paid, or identity mix ups. If a CCJ was issued in error you can apply to the court to have it set aside, and if you paid the full amount within one month of the judgment you can have it removed from the register entirely. Getting a wrong entry corrected before you apply can transform the deal you are offered.
Lenders price for risk, so a mortgage with a CCJ usually starts on a higher interest rate than a standard mortgage. How much higher depends on the age of the judgment, whether it is satisfied and the size of your deposit. As a rough guide, a satisfied CCJ over three years old might add very little, while a recent judgment can add a full percentage point or more.
On a £200,000 repayment mortgage over 30 years, a rate one percentage point higher adds roughly £110 to £120 to the monthly payments. That is the real cost of a recent CCJ, and it is also why timing matters: applying six months later, once the judgment passes a criteria threshold, can move you into a cheaper tier and save thousands over the deal period.
Specialist deals are a bridge, not a life sentence. Pay your bills on time, keep your credit commitments clean, and when your initial deal ends we look to remortgage you onto sharper pricing, often with a mainstream lender once the CCJ has aged or dropped off your file. One warning from experience: avoid making several applications in quick succession if you are declined, because each hard search chips away at your credit score and makes the next lender more nervous. One prepared application beats five hopeful ones.
A self employed contractor came to us after being declined by his bank. He had a satisfied CCJ of £1,800, just over two years old, from a dispute during a gap between contracts. His day rate was strong and his accounts were in good order, so the barrier was purely the judgment. We placed him with a specialist lender at 85 percent loan to value, using criteria designed for contractor mortgages, and his rate was closer to mainstream pricing than he expected.
The second case involved a couple where one applicant had an unsatisfied CCJ of £600, registered fourteen months earlier, that they were completely unaware of until we checked their credit reports. It related to an old address and an unpaid final utility bill. They settled it immediately, obtained proof of satisfaction, and we presented the application with a covering explanation. The lender accepted them with a 10 percent deposit. Both cases are anonymised, and neither outcome was luck: they were prepared applications sent to lenders chosen because their criteria fitted. That preparation is the part people underestimate, and it is where a specialist mortgage broker earns their keep.
Sources and further reading: GOV.UK guidance on county court judgments, TrustOnline, the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines and Citizens Advice.
Yes, though the pool of suitable lenders is smaller and the deposit required is larger. Some lenders will accept an unsatisfied CCJ below a set financial amount, often around £500, while others want to see it settled before they lend. Where you stand depends on the money owed, when the judgment was issued and the strength of the rest of your application.
Only if you pay within one calendar month of the judgment, in which case you can apply to have it removed from the register completely. Pay later than that and the CCJ is marked as satisfied but stays visible for the full six years. Satisfied is still worth having: lenders view it as a debt issue you dealt with, not one you ignored.
It is possible, but recent judgments are the hardest to place. Under twelve months old, expect fewer lenders, a deposit of 20 to 25 percent and close attention to your affordability. Once the CCJ passes twelve months, and again at two and three years old, your options widen noticeably. If you can satisfy it and wait even a few months, your chances of getting a better deal improve.
Yes. Lenders check both applicants, so a CCJ on one credit file affects the whole application even if the other applicant has a spotless record. That does not mean you will be refused: it means the application needs to go to a lender whose criteria accept the CCJ. Removing the affected person from the application is rarely the answer, because their income usually matters for affordability.
Sometimes, but not always. If your CCJ is five and a half years old, waiting makes obvious sense. If it is two years old, waiting four more years while rents and house prices move is a real cost too. We often find the better answer is buying now with a specialist deal, then remortgaging to a mainstream rate once the CCJ has gone. Our guide to improving your mortgage chances with bad credit covers the groundwork worth doing either way.
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