Hi Pete and welcome to the forum
An IVA will show up on your credit report and will stay there for six years, whereas a DMP itself will not show or be recorded, however, if you are paying your creditors at a reduced rate via a DMP, this will more than likely show on your credit report.
The majority of unsecured defaults on a credit report are ignored, whereas an IVA is considered by sub prime lenders as reason for a small loading on the rate. That said, 12 months clear payments shown on outstanding debt and an IVA being run satisfactorily will not count that heavily against you on a sub prime mortgage product.
Either way, you will have to seek a sub prime mortgage as your credit report will show either defaults, late payments, reduced payments or an IVA, and high street lenders do not like to see any of it. It’s the rest of your circumstance that matter e.g. income, whether your debt is being managed correctly (being paid back) amongst other things that will make the real difference to an application for a mortgage.
IVA or DMP couldn't tell you what’s best suited to your situation (other experts on the forum probably could), but, would your credit rating improve with an IVA - not really, but it certainly won't be any worse. And it will be off your credit report a lot quicker than bad payments affecting your overall credit score by staying in a DMP.
Best bet (to see how your credit status is being viewed) log onto the experian website and obtain a free report on yourself.
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