Welcome to the forum chesney1.

I think the reality is that you may need a little time - for your credit status to improve and to save up the biggest deposit that you can.

Speak to a mortgage broker directly though, as this isn't our area of expertise.

Hi Chesney1, we completed last April, discharged form 5 Nov/Dec 2015 and have been trying to get a mortgage with no avail. Spoke to really nice mortgage broker yesterday who says no-one will touch us until discharge falls off or 3 years after discharge, really downhearted abou this but he did say that there is a new company coming into the market that will deal with people who have been in a Trust Deed, but not sure what their criteria will be yet. He's says England and Wales have an equivalent company that deal with those who have been in an IVA, but unfortunate they will not deal with anyone in Scotland! He is going to let me know when they are open and he'll let me know the criteria so I'll post something once I know.

My advice would be to get a credit builder credit card such as those offered by Vanquis, Aqua or Capital One. These have a high interest rate so spend on it but clear the balance every month so you don't pay interest. Do a weekly shop on it, stick some fuel on it and then pay it off.

As well as this, save what you can for a deposit. When the three years are up you will have a) saved up a decent deposit for a home and b) you'll have shown your creditworthiness over the past few years. Once the defaults and TD fall of your file, your chances of getting a mainstream mortgage will increase greatly.

You can also at that point get rid of your high interest rate credit cards and get better ones.