A county court judgment does not close the door on a mortgage. What matters to a lender is how many you have, how much they are for, whether they have been paid, and how old they are. An FCA-authorised adviser can tell you which lenders will consider yours.
Two people with the same CCJ can get very different answers. These are the three things that move a lender's decision.
Most CCJs stay on your credit file for six years from the judgment date. The older it is, the more lenders will look past it.
A CCJ marked satisfied tells a lender the debt was dealt with. One still outstanding is the harder question, and some lenders will not lend while it is.
One judgment for a few hundred pounds reads differently from several for thousands, or from a CCJ sitting alongside recent missed payments.
Bring the paperwork that answers the questions above and the first call starts from facts rather than guesses.
Get a copy from one of the three agencies. Check the judgment date, the amount, and that it is marked correctly before you apply.
If you settled it, ask the court for the certificate of satisfaction. Lenders weigh a satisfied CCJ more favourably than one that is still owed.
Lenders who work with CCJs typically want more of the property's value upfront than a standard case. Your adviser will tell you the figure for your situation.
The questions we are asked most by people who have just found a CCJ on their file.
Yes, in most cases. It depends on the judgment's age, amount and whether it has been paid, rather than on the fact of the CCJ itself. Some lenders specialise in exactly this.
Yes. A judgment marked as satisfied shows the debt was dealt with, and lenders weigh it more favourably than one still outstanding.
It stays on your credit file for six years from the judgment date, and its influence on a decision fades as it ages. Some lenders will consider it well before that.
No. An initial enquiry with your adviser does not. A full credit search is only run when you are ready to apply, and your adviser will tell you before it happens.
Free, no-obligation introduction to an FCA-authorised adviser who handles CCJ cases.
Reviewed by Charlotte Wood, Adverse Credit Mortgages, updated November 2026