You may have been given a sub-prime mortgage in the past but do you know whether you are still a sub-prime mortgage borrower? It may be that you now have the ability to get hold of a regular, cheaper prime mortgage.

During the last decade many people took out sub-prime mortgages. They were plentiful and no one could see the downside to the loans. But in the wake of the credit crunch many people suffered with the mortgage debt and it was sub-prime mortgages that were rightly or wrongly blamed for the failure of banks round the world. As a result, they have now become almost extinct.

But most of the people who were sold sub-prime mortgages were able to safely navigate the recession and are now comfortably paying their mortgage each month. If you are one of these people then you may find that you are no longer a sub-prime borrower.

After years of a high rate of interest you have significantly improved your credit score – you have proved that you can handle any loan offered to you. As a result your credit score may have improved enough so as to take you out of sub-prime and into prime. That means you could get hold of a new loan at a cheaper rate.

If you want to know if you are clear of sub-prime, talk to a mortgage broker. They can assess your credit score and look to see whether you could now get hold of a prime loan. It might mean a cheaper rate of repayment each month and it might mean a new age of financial stability in your life.

To Keep up with news and comments on the current adverse credit market please visit the Adverse Mortgage Blog.

More people sought help for their sub-prime mortgage problems than ever in 2009 as many woke up to the fact that only proactive behaviour will solve debt problems.

It doesn't matter who you talk to if you have sub-prime problems – it might be a mortgage adviser, your lender, a debt manager or even a debt charity – all that matters that you take action and begin working on a plan to solve your financial woes.

The Citizens Advice Bureau has reported record numbers for people seeking help with debt problems at the end of 2009. It says it is currently dealing with 9,500 new debt problems every working day and debt and benefit issues combined now account for 60% of the CAB workload. CAB advisors handled 2.27 million debt problems in 2009.

The latest research from Equifax certainly backs up these figures – it found that 20% of people it surveyed have lost income either through cutbacks in overtime, an enforced pay cut or reduction in working hours, or because they didn’t get a bonus last year.

Neil Munroe, external affairs director of Equifax says: “At the start of 2010, nearly a quarter of respondents said they had not had a pay rise so far this year and 64% are either not expecting one, or are unsure if they will get a pay increase, and that appears to be putting increasing pressure on family budgets.

“Nearly a third of consumers surveyed said that they felt they were in debt because their living expenses had increased in the last year. This is a big challenge for many families. Whilst interest rates have dropped, the cost of many essential items hasn’t followed suit and this is adding to the burden on those already juggling various monthly financial commitments."

SOURCE: Equifax, CAB, 24/02/10

To Keep up with news and comments on the current adverse credit market please visit the Adverse Mortgage Blog.

There are still a lot of people out there with sub-prime mortgages and they still need financial advice, even if they can't get hold of a mortgage during this downturn.

New figures from Unbiased.co.uk reveal that the number of people searching for whole of market advice on sub-prime mortgages have leaped, increasing from 3% in September to 7% in October. This is an all time high of enquiries since Unbiased.co.uk, a broker search engine, launched at the end of August 2008.

You might be a sub-prime borrower and may have resigned yourself to a long period of stagnation on your current mortgage. But it is foolish if you do not talk to a mortgage adviser – you may find that you are in a better position than you think and you may find that there is some hope out there for people who have been castigated by society for being supposedly 'risky borrowers'.

In fact many sub-prime borrowers are not really sub-prime cases at all – they may have just been put onto a sub-prime loan when times were good because it was either the best loan out there for them. All borrowers including sub-prime borrowers need a voice – and a good mortgage adviser can be that voice.

Karen Barrett, chief executive of Unbiased.co.uk , says: "The increase in those searching for advice from whole of market mortgage advisers on sub-prime mortgages points towards a squeezed market for those borrowers.  While an increasing number of mainstream mortgage deals are slowly appearing back onto the market, the sub-prime market remains slow, and these borrowers are therefore scoping out options through which they can access new deals. 

"Only through seeking whole of market mortgage advice can they be sure to get access to deals across the whole of the market, and ensure they arrange a deal which is affordable to them for both the short and long term."

SOURCE: Unbiased.co.uk, 30/11/09

To Keep up with news and comments on the current adverse credit market please visit the Adverse Mortgage Blog.

If you've been wondering exactly what a sub prime mortgage is, then wonder no more. Here's all the information you need on what a sub prime mortgage is. Sub prime mortgages contrast with prime mortgages which are for people with no adverse credit circumstances. Sub prime mortgages can be divided into different levels of adverse credit: heavy, medium and light, with interest rates to match. Demand for the sub prime mortgage is increasing as people struggle to cope with spiralling debt. Don't worry, there are a lot of deals to choose from, even if you have CCJs, arrears or have been made bankrupt.

Read more about the Sub Prime Mortgage