Mortgages After Bankruptcy, Discharged Bankrupts and DROs

What is a mortgage after bankruptcy?

A mortgage after bankruptcy is a residential or buy to let mortgage for a borrower who has been made bankrupt and has since been discharged, from a lender whose criteria accept the time that has passed since the bankruptcy order and the discharge. There is no separate bankruptcy mortgage product. Most lenders that consider a recent bankruptcy are specialist lenders. As the bankruptcy ages, more lenders tend to consider an application, and the deposit, the rate and the maximum loan to value (LTV) can all improve. Lenders weigh a clean credit record rebuilt since discharge as well as the time that has passed. They treat a past bankruptcy as adverse credit, alongside county court judgments, defaults and individual voluntary arrangements.

While a bankruptcy lasts, the person is an undischarged bankrupt. In England and Wales they must not borrow more than £500 without telling the lender they are bankrupt (GOV.UK: bankruptcy restrictions), and in practice lenders do not normally lend to an undischarged bankrupt. For most people discharge comes automatically one year after the bankruptcy order. Before applying, check the dates (the order, the discharge and any restrictions order) and whether anything from the bankruptcy is still outstanding, such as the trustee's interest in a former home or an income payments agreement.

The mortgage itself is ordinary lending. A mortgage on a home you will live in is normally a regulated mortgage, meeting the legal test that at least 40% of the property is used as a dwelling (legislation.gov.uk: Regulated Activities Order, article 61), and the lender assesses affordability under the Financial Conduct Authority's conduct rules (FCA Handbook: MCOB 11.6). Most buy to let lending is business lending outside those rules, while a consumer buy to let mortgage, where the borrower is not letting as a business, has a regime of its own. The bankruptcy changes which lenders will consider the application, how much of the property's value they will lend and the price.

Mortgage Lane arranges mortgages for discharged bankrupts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for people discharged from sequestration in Scotland, as well as for people whose debt relief order has ended or whose bankruptcy has dropped off their credit file. That covers first purchases after bankruptcy, buying back a former home from a trustee, remortgages and buy to let. Most of the work is matching the dates and the credit file to the lenders whose current criteria accept them, and checking the deposit those criteria need. Lenders assess buy to let after bankruptcy mainly on the rent, and our bad credit buy to let mortgages page covers it. For other adverse credit, see our pages on CCJ mortgages, mortgages with defaults, mortgages with missed payments and IVA mortgages.

This page covers what a bankruptcy means for a mortgage application. Mortgage Lane does not give debt advice, including on whether to become bankrupt or how to deal with debts, and GOV.UK points to free debt advice through MoneyHelper (GOV.UK: options for dealing with your debts).

Mortgage rates after bankruptcy

Mortgage rates after bankruptcy are set by each lender, and they depend on the credit history as well as the loan to value. Lenders price mortgages in loan to value bands, so a bigger deposit can move a case to a cheaper band. Specialist lenders that accept a past bankruptcy may also grade the case in tiers, and time since discharge is one of the measures they use. Minimum periods in published lender criteria include one, two, three and six years after discharge. Tiers for a more recent discharge tend to carry a higher rate and a lower maximum loan to value. Each year that passes, and each year of clean credit since discharge, can move a borrower to a lighter tier or bring more lenders into range.

Because more lenders can come into range at known points, it is worth choosing the length of the initial rate period with the next remortgage in mind. A shorter fixed rate that ends soon after the next date that matters for your case, such as three years from discharge or six years from the order, lets you remortgage from a stronger position once that date has passed. A longer fix gives certain payments for longer but can carry an early repayment charge if you leave early. Our fixed term mortgages page explains how fixed rates are priced.

Discharged from bankruptcy? Get in touch with your bankruptcy order date, discharge date and current credit reports. We match the lender to the time that has passed and the credit you have rebuilt since.

Mortgage after bankruptcy criteria

Lenders check the same facts on every bankruptcy case, and each sets its own limits for them. Several rows in the table rest on published rules, as at October 2026: discharge, restrictions orders and income payments (the Insolvency Act 1986 and GOV.UK), company directors (the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986), the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme (HM Treasury), remortgage (the FCA) and buy to let (the Prudential Regulation Authority, for banks and building societies). The other rows describe how lenders' own limits differ; those limits change often, and the lender's underwriting decides each case. In Mortgage Lane's experience, applicants with adverse credit are usually limited to around 90% loan to value with the lenders we use, so a 10% deposit is a more realistic starting point than 5%, and a recent discharge may need more (90% LTV mortgages and 95% mortgages cover the two bands).

Once any bar on acting as a director has ended (legislation.gov.uk: Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, section 11), lenders assess a company director who has been bankrupt on income from the company in the usual way, as our limited company director mortgages page explains.

Types of insolvency, and how each is assessed

Bankruptcy, sequestration and debt relief orders are separate procedures in different parts of the UK, and lenders look at the dates each one produces.

Bankruptcy in England and Wales

A person can apply online to become bankrupt, for a fee of £680 as at October 2026, and an adjudicator at the Insolvency Service decides whether to make a bankruptcy order (GOV.UK: applying to become bankrupt). A creditor can also petition the court. An official receiver, or a licensed insolvency practitioner acting as trustee, then deals with the bankrupt's assets. The bankruptcy starts on the day the order is made and lasts until discharge, which for most people is automatic one year later (legislation.gov.uk: Insolvency Act 1986, section 279). Discharge can take longer if the bankrupt does not co-operate with the trustee, because the court can suspend it on the application of the official receiver or the trustee.

Two things can outlast the discharge. A bankruptcy restrictions order, or an undertaking with the same effect, extends the restrictions of bankruptcy for between 2 and 15 years where the official receiver considers the bankrupt was dishonest or to blame for the debts (GOV.UK: bankruptcy restrictions orders and undertakings). An income payments agreement can require part of the bankrupt's income to be paid to the trustee for a period that may continue after discharge but cannot end more than three years after the agreement is made (legislation.gov.uk: Insolvency Act 1986, section 310A); a court can make an income payments order to the same effect. Lenders look at the order date, the discharge date and whether either of these is still running.

Get in touch with your order and discharge dates, and the details of any restrictions order or income payments agreement.

Sequestration in Scotland

In Scotland, bankruptcy is also called sequestration and runs under Scottish law. A person applies through an approved money adviser, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy, part of the Scottish Government, decides whether they should go bankrupt. Discharge usually comes after one year, or after six months for someone who goes through the Minimal Asset Process, and payments under a debtor contribution order can continue after discharge, usually for 48 months in total (mygov.scot: bankruptcy). A lender counts those payments as a commitment while they run. The Minimal Asset Process is for people with no disposable income, debts of less than £25,000, no property or land and few other assets (mygov.scot: who can go bankrupt).

Every bankruptcy in Scotland is recorded on the Register of Insolvencies, where details stay for at least five years from the date of bankruptcy, or 18 months under the Minimal Asset Process, and the bankruptcy can stay on the credit file for at least six years. While bankrupt, a person must tell a lender they are bankrupt before borrowing over £2,000, or any amount if they owe £1,000 or more in other debts (mygov.scot: how bankruptcy can affect you). A lender is likely to assess sequestration by time since discharge and the credit record since, as it would a bankruptcy elsewhere in the UK. Our mortgages in Scotland page covers buying there.

Get in touch with your sequestration and discharge dates.

Bankruptcy in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own insolvency law. The High Court in Belfast makes a bankruptcy order on a petition from the debtor or a creditor, and bankruptcy normally lasts for one year. Discharge can come sooner where the bankrupt co-operates fully, and later where they have behaved irresponsibly (nidirect: bankruptcy). While bankrupt, a person must not get credit over £500 without telling the creditor. The Bankruptcy and Chancery Office at the High Court keeps the insolvency register for Northern Ireland, separate from the register for England and Wales. A lender is likely to assess a Northern Ireland bankruptcy in the same way as one in England and Wales. For buying there, see our mortgages in Northern Ireland page.

Get in touch with your bankruptcy order and discharge dates.

Debt relief orders

A debt relief order (DRO) is an alternative to bankruptcy in England and Wales for people who cannot pay their debts. To qualify, a person must owe less than £50,000, have less than £75 a month of spare income, less than £2,000 of assets and no vehicle worth £4,000 or more, and must not own their home. They apply through an approved debt adviser (GOV.UK: debt relief orders). The £90 fee was removed on 6 April 2024, and the debt limit rose to £50,000 on 28 June 2024 (Insolvency Service: changes to debt relief orders). A DRO lasts 12 months, after which the debts included in it are written off. While it runs, the person must not borrow more than £500 without telling the lender about the DRO and cannot act as a company director. It stays on the credit file for six years and is removed from the Individual Insolvency Register three months after it ends.

Northern Ireland runs its own scheme, with the same £50,000 debt limit, £2,000 asset limit, £4,000 vehicle allowance, £75 a month income test and 12-month term (Department for the Economy: debt relief orders). Because a DRO is not available to homeowners, a mortgage after a DRO is often a first purchase. Some lenders group a DRO with bankruptcy in their criteria; how others treat it varies by lender.

Get in touch with the dates your DRO started and ended.

Individual voluntary arrangements

An IVA is a different procedure: a formal arrangement to repay creditors through an insolvency practitioner, usually lasting five or six years, after which the debts included in it are released. Lenders assess it on completion, and it stays on the credit file for six years from the date it started. A failed IVA can lead to bankruptcy, and lenders then look at the bankruptcy and its discharge date. Scotland's comparable route is a protected trust deed. Our IVA mortgages page covers the arrangement in detail.

Get in touch with your IVA completion certificate.

The bankruptcy record: the credit file and the Individual Insolvency Register

A bankruptcy can stay on the credit file for six years from the date of the bankruptcy order, not the date of discharge, and on the public Individual Insolvency Register until three months after discharge. GOV.UK counts the six years from the date of the bankruptcy, and the credit reference agencies are not told directly when a bankruptcy ends: they pick it up from public records (GOV.UK: when bankruptcy ends). Experian says a bankruptcy appears on its report for six years, or until discharge if that takes longer, so a discharge delayed beyond six years keeps the entry there (Experian: bankruptcy and your credit profile). After discharge, check the report held by each of the main credit reference agencies to see that the discharge shows.

The Individual Insolvency Register covers England and Wales. The Insolvency Service lists a bankruptcy on it while it is current and removes the entry three months after discharge; a bankruptcy restrictions order or undertaking stays listed until it expires (Insolvency Service: the Individual Insolvency Register). Scotland and Northern Ireland keep their own registers, covered above. Separately, a bankrupt person's name is usually removed from the Land Charges register after five years, and lenders can search that register when you apply for a mortgage.

Accounts included in the bankruptcy can also show as entries of their own, often as defaults. Lenders that report to Experian are expected to update them after discharge to show a nil balance and a partial settlement, and each entry leaves the file six years after its own default date, which can be earlier than the bankruptcy entry. After the six years, the bankruptcy no longer shows on the credit report a lender reads. Some lenders' application forms still ask whether you have ever been bankrupt, a question Experian notes is common on mortgage applications, and you must answer it accurately.

How time since discharge changes the options

Time since discharge is the main test lenders apply, and the longer ago the discharge, the more lenders tend to consider an application. Lenders set their own minimum periods and tiers, so the rows below describe the general direction, and each lender's criteria decide a case. Published rules fix two points: the credit file entry can go six years after the order, and the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme counts a bankruptcy order in force at any time in the three years before completion. Because a bankruptcy lasts until discharge, a loan through the scheme is out of reach until at least three years after discharge (HM Treasury: 2025 Mortgage Guarantee Scheme rules, Schedule 2).

Credit rebuilt since discharge supports the application at every stage. A bank account run without problems, bills paid when due, a credit builder card or other credit kept small and repaid in full and on time, and registration on the electoral roll at your current address all build a record a lender can read. New adverse credit after discharge can count against an application more than the bankruptcy itself, because it is more recent and shows how you have handled credit since. Our low credit score mortgages page covers what lenders see on a thin or damaged file, and our guide on what to do when a bad credit mortgage is declined lists the checks to make after a refusal.

The home and the trustee in bankruptcy

On bankruptcy in England and Wales, the bankrupt's interest in their home passes to the trustee in bankruptcy, who can sell it or realise its value for the creditors. Where the bankrupt owns the home alone, the legal ownership passes to the trustee with any equity, and a bankruptcy restriction is added to the property's entry at HM Land Registry. Where it is jointly owned, the bankrupt's share of the equity passes and the other owners keep theirs. If the equity is more than £1,000, the trustee can sell the property or apply for a charging order, which fixes the amount the trustee will get when the home is sold later. A sale can be delayed for up to a year where children or a partner need time to find somewhere to live (GOV.UK: bankruptcy and your home).

Under section 283A of the Insolvency Act 1986, if the trustee has not dealt with the interest in a home that was the main residence of the bankrupt, their spouse or civil partner, or a former spouse or civil partner, within three years of the bankruptcy, it normally returns to the bankrupt without any transfer. Dealing with it means selling it, applying for an order for sale or possession or for a charging order, or agreeing with the bankrupt that they will pay a set sum in return for the interest. If the bankrupt does not tell the trustee or the official receiver about the home within three months of the bankruptcy, the three years run from when the trustee finds out instead (legislation.gov.uk: Insolvency Act 1986, section 283A). The Land Registry restriction stays until the trustee has dealt with the property, so it can still be there after discharge.

A partner, family member or other joint owner can buy the bankrupt's share from the trustee, which can stop a sale. The buyer usually needs a mortgage or remortgage to do it, often in their own name, and the lender assesses the buyer's income and the property in the usual way. Our single person mortgages page covers applying alone. A transfer of equity moves the share into the buyer's name. A lender asked to lend on a home in which a trustee still holds an interest will normally want that interest dealt with, and the restriction removed, before it lends.

Scotland's rules differ: the trustee can sell the home if that is the only way to pay the debts, and someone else, such as a joint owner, can buy the bankrupt's share of the equity (mygov.scot: your home). In Northern Ireland a joint owner, family or friends may be able to buy out the share. Mortgage Lane does not give legal advice, and a solicitor can explain the trustee's position on a particular home.

Declaring bankruptcy on a mortgage application

Answer every application question about bankruptcy accurately. While a bankruptcy lasts in England and Wales, obtaining credit of £500 or more without telling the lender of the bankruptcy is a criminal offence, and the same applies after discharge while a bankruptcy restrictions order or undertaking is in force (legislation.gov.uk: Insolvency Act 1986, section 360). After discharge, disclose the bankruptcy wherever the lender asks about it. While it is on the credit file the lender will see it anyway, so disclosing it with the dates from the start lets the case go to a lender whose criteria accept it.

Once the record has left the credit file, some lenders still ask whether you have ever been bankrupt, and Experian notes that this question is common on mortgage applications. A wrong answer can lead to a declined application. Lenders rely on the answers when they lend, so a mortgage obtained on a false answer can be at risk if the lender finds out later. We work from the dates on the bankruptcy order and the discharge, and check each lender's wording before an application.

How a mortgage after bankruptcy is arranged

1. Dates and documents. The bankruptcy order date, the discharge date or a certificate of discharge, details of any restrictions order or income payments agreement, and credit reports from the main credit reference agencies, checked to see that the discharge is recorded.
2. Credit since discharge. The record since discharge reviewed, and any new missed payments, defaults or judgments identified and explained.
3. Lender match. The case set against each lender's rules on time since discharge, deposit and the record since; the lender chosen for its criteria, its loan to value limit and its pricing; and the loan checked against income, usually as a multiple of income after commitments.
4. Agreement in principle and application. An agreement in principle with the bankruptcy disclosed with its dates, then the full application, the lender's valuation and its decision.
5. Offer, completion and the next step. The mortgage offer and completion, with the initial rate period chosen so that the next remortgage falls after the next point that matters for your case.

From bankruptcy order to mainstream lenders: the arithmetic

A bankruptcy affects a mortgage application on a fixed calendar, so the dates show when the choice of lenders can change.

Step 1. The dates

An illustrative borrower was made bankrupt on 1 March 2023 and discharged automatically on 1 March 2024, with no restrictions order, no income payments agreement and no home involved, because they were renting at the time. The table shows when each change happens; lenders apply their own rules to each date.

Illustrative dates on a hypothetical bankruptcy in England and Wales. Not debt advice and not an offer of finance.

Step 2. The options over time

The table compares three application dates. October 2026 is two years and seven months after discharge, March 2027 is three years after it, and March 2029 is five years after it and six years from the order. The positions show the general direction and are not any lender's rule.

Step 3. What the deposit decides

An illustrative purchase, not a product or an offer: a £250,000 home, a £37,500 deposit and a gross income of £50,000 with no other credit commitments. At 5 times income, the standard multiple in Mortgage Lane's experience, the income supports £250,000, so the loan to value limit decides the case. The table shows three limits a lender might set for the credit history: 90%, the usual ceiling for adverse credit on the cases we arrange, and 85% and 75% as lower examples, which are not any lender's tiers. We work out the payments over 30 years at 5.2%, the illustrative rate used across our guides, which is not a product rate.

On these figures, a 75% limit needs £25,000 more deposit than this borrower has, and £37,500 more than a 90% limit for the same home. The 85% loan costs £68.64 a month less than the 90% loan, for £12,500 more deposit. An income payments agreement would also count in the income check: one still running at £200 a month would take £2,400 a year off the income before the multiple, so the maximum on income would fall from £250,000 to £238,000, still above the £225,000 loan at 90%. In this illustration no agreement was made. An agreement can run for up to three years from the date it is made, so one agreed late in the bankruptcy could still be running in October 2026. Our 85% LTV mortgages page covers borrowing at that band.

Step 4. Structuring around the calendar

A borrower buying in October 2026 can choose an initial rate period that ends around March 2029, when the bankruptcy can leave the credit file, and remortgage then with a wider choice of lenders, provided they have made every payment on time since discharge. A two-year fixed rate taken in October 2026 would end in October 2028, five months before that date, and a five-year fixed rate would run to October 2031. A product whose initial period and any early repayment charge end soon after March 2029 keeps that option open; one that ends earlier means a remortgage while the entry is still on the file. Choose the first product for when you can leave it as well as for its rate; our remortgage with bad credit page covers that later step.

What decides the case

The order date and the discharge date are fixed once they have happened. You control the credit record you build from discharge, the size of the deposit and when you apply, and the broker's job is the choice of lender for the current stage and a product term that ends when the next stage opens. Check the credit reports and the dates first, because every later step depends on them. If a lender has already turned you down, our declined mortgages page sets out the recovery sequence.