Well I have no credit rating as I have not borrowed before, which apparently can be as bad a having a bad credit rating. The charcol adviser says that they may be able to get an "adverse mortgage route" or something like that. The problem is that my partner and her sister are the legal owners of this property which I guess puts me completely out of the equasion, self employed or not.

I think you may be bang on there, she's just arrived home and told me she has been talking to them, thanks.

Hi,I am self employed and last year my partners sister stepped in with her to get a mortgage on a home I share with my partner, (I did not apply as I could not prove my income at the time). Our home is with a company which has had difficulties and needed to be baled out by the government. The fixed rate agreement runs out in June and our payments are due to rise sharply so we really need to switch to a new company. The problem now is that since then my partners sister has got herself a bad credit score and lenders have turned them down. I still cannot get involved and we are wondering what we can do now. She has spoken to various brokers but they seem unable or unwilling to help. Anyone got any idea what we should do? The value of the house has risen by over £25 grand in the last year as the houses here are very sought after. Thanks.