Until fairly recently, people with a history of poor credit were too great a risk for the mainstream lenders, who didn’t stray from their well-trodden path of lending to Mr and Mrs Average with solid jobs and a sound credit history.

How things change. The last decade or so has seen a flourishing sub-prime market, specifically introduced to meet the needs of people with less than perfect credit records. 

Help is now readily available for people who don't quite fit into the borrowing requirements of a traditional High Street bank or building society as there are a panel of specialist lenders offering poor credit mortgage solutions.