When considering your mortgage application, lenders tend to look not just at your credit rating, but also at the details of your credit history. The lender will look at exactly what happened, and the circumstances. A missed utility bill will be judged differently from a County Court Judgement, for example. Debt Management Plans or IVAs Under debt management plans, you come to an agreement with your creditor to repay a limited amount of your debt each month. Alternatively, you can seek out an individual voluntary agreement, or IVA, which allows you to make affordable payments towards your debt over the long term, often five to six years. On your credit file, both IVAs and debt management plans are usually recorded as a series of defaults. Banks tend to look for your debt management plan to have been fully paid out, followed by 12 months of on-time payments, before considering offering a mortgage.  In the case of IVAs, you may need to wait substantially longer. Read more on the types of bad credit, or speak to us for free initial advice. No credit history Low credit score Late or missed payments CCJ IVA DMP (Debt management plan) Payday Loans Bankruptcy