www.iva.co.uk

Hi guys, I have been in an IVA and paid a F&F settlement last year and the original IVA was due to finish in April 2017 and have now been paid out for a year. During the last year things have improved greatly, new job new house etc. Due to my new job I had to move into a rented house closer to work (absolute nighmare with estate agents who would not touch me with IVA and ending up paying nearly £4000 upfront just to be accepted something that I was not aware of) but still have my mortgaged property rented to a family friend as was unable to get a new mortgage in new area due to IVA being on my file for another 2 years although I have not tried to apply for one! My reasoning behind keeping my old mortgage going was I would have more equity than if I just sold it last year and I was hoping to sell the house when I can get a new mortgage to buy in new area. I know the end date of the IVA is April 2017 for the 5th year but could I buy then or because its on file for 6 years would I be better to wait still?
Running both house is a finacial strain but will be worth it as we would have around £40k in equity instead of £20K if we just sold it last year. I have checked my credit file and all clear except IVA and no longer listed on IVA Register and followed advice on here and got small Vanquis credit card with £500 limit and use occasionally to start building up credit history again wanted to know what would be the best way forward now as want to see a light at the end of the tunnel. My present mortgage is in my name only and not my wife's so we would be looking to get mortgage with both of us on and would appreciate any advise as to even how much we could borrow as new area is more expensive to buy and just worried we could never afford to buy again even though we have approx £41K coming income including my job, tax credits, csa and dla payments

Hi, your IVA being on your credit file for 6 years from date of acceptance will hinder any mortgage applicaton so my best advice is to sit tight and wait for the credit files to clear up and then move forward.

We do have two mortgage experts on board the forum namely Ryan and Shaun and they will be able to give you expert advice, if you wanted to contact them their details can be found in the ask experts a question link to the left and scroll down.

With your IVA still on your credit file and having been (relatively) recently paid off your options are likely to be extremely limited. It's not possible to give any specific individual advice here of course but unless you are able to provide a fairly substantial deposit (circa 30% of the purchase price) or your Wife's income is sufficient to support a mortgage on her own it may not be possible in the short term. You are doing all the right things to start setting things up for the future though.