The UK's consumer debt has been hitting the headlines so often in the last twelve months that it has been almost impossible not to have noticed. The amount of people with credit cards is rising, as is the sheer number of people getting themselves further and further into bad debt. For many looking for a mortgage for people with bad credit, the future may look considerably grey but as our information below outlines, if you have a bad credit problem, then don't despair. You might just be surprised by the choice of mortgages for people with bad credit which are currently on the market.

So, what counts as bad credit?

Bad credit, which can also be referred as adverse credit, can affect anyone living in the UK. Bad credit problems refer to a range of difficulties which people may be experiencing including:

?County court judgements

?Bankruptcy

?Mortgage arrears

?Loan default

Bad credit can affect anyone and often people find themselves in bad credit situations before they even realising that it has crept up on them.

Why is getting a mortgage so hard for people with bad credit?

Unfortunately one of the consequences of having bad credit is that lenders are wary about lending money to you, especially when it is for as large an amount as a mortgage. Traditionally many mortgage lenders want evidence that your history shows you to be reliable in re-paying your previous loans. If you have defaulted in paying back money you owe, or if you have any county court judgements against you, they see the risk of lending you money to be high and therefore they charge an increased interest rate. Until recently a mortgage for people with bad credit has seemed to be totally out of the question.

How has this situation changed?

The situation as regards mortgages for people with bad credit has changed over the last half a decade because it simply has had no choice. This has come about for a variety of reasons, one of which is the significant rise in the number of people with bad credit. As the social attitude towards debt has changed, more facilities, such as store cards, have become available for people to borrow money. A consequence of this is that an increased number of people have not only got into debt but have also found themselves in way above their heads. This has, in turn, brought about a change in the number of lenders who are prepared to lend money to people with bad credit. There is now a relatively large group of lenders who are willing to provide specialist mortgages for people with bad credit and this level of competition is pushing the prices down, resulting in a better deal for the borrower.

What to do if you are interested in a mortgage for people with bad credit?

If you are interested in a mortgage for people with bad credit then the best thing to do is speak to a professional mortgage broker, who specialises in providing advice for bad credit mortgages. However, always make sure that the mortgage broker you see is qualified and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).