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Documents Needed for a Self-Employed Mortgage Application

How does a Self-Employed mortgage differ from other mortgages?

There are no mortgages specific to Self-Employed applicants, so the mortgage itself doesn’t differ to the mortgages available to any other applicant. There is a difference in how your income is assessed by the Mortgage Lender, but from the applicant’s perspective, all that means is that you will need to evidence your income based on different criteria to an employed person.

Although this can mean that Self-Employed applicants may have to wait until they have more of a track record than others, the chance that you will secure a mortgage is not reduced by your employment type, providing you can demonstrate a stable working history.

What specific documents do you need?

Because Self-Employed income is still seen by Mortgage Lenders to be less stable than PAYE income, you will be expected to provide evidence of a stable two to three year history in your current role, compared to just three months required by an employed applicant.

The exact documentation that you will need will depend on the type of Self-Employed work you carry out and there is also a degree of variation from lender to lender. Regardless of your income type, you will need to provide proof of address, UK residence and proof of income, as below, depending on your employment type:

Limited Company Director

As a Limited Company Director lenders calculate an average figure from two to three years of your personal basic salary and dividends. It is possible to find the odd lender who will also be willing to consider net profits or retained income, however, this is less common.

To evidence this income, you will need to provide the following documents for the duration requested by the Mortgage Lender:

  • Certified business accounts
  • Tax Calculations and Tax Year Overview from HMRC
  • Business bank statements

Partnership

You must own at least 25% of a business, for your income to be considered in support of your mortgage application. The lender will then use an average of your share of the net profits for two to three years. The proof of income required will be largely the same as that noted for Limited Company Directors above.

Sole Traders and Freelance workers

An average of your personal income for two to three years (or as required by the lender), will be used to calculate your loan affordability. The following documents will be requested.

  • Certified accounts for the relevant period
  • Tax Calculations and Tax Year Overview from HMRC for the same duration

Contractor

As a contractor, some lenders will be willing to look at your day rate, which will be annualised and averaged over a two to three year duration. There are some lenders that are far more flexible than others for Contract workers, but also any proof that you can provide of a guaranteed future income will help. To evidence your income you may need:

  • Tax Calculations and Tax Year Overview from HMRC
  • Finalised accounts
  • Contracts from clients proving ongoing work availability,

How do you improve your chances of being accepted by a lender?

As a Self-Employed applicant, you can do to improve your chances of securing a mortgage if you prepare in advance of applying for your mortgage in the following ways:

Credit score

All mortgage applicants undergo a credit check, so a better credit rating will benefit all applicants, but particularly the Self-Employed. To improve your score:

  • Register on the electoral roll at your current address
  • Maintain timely payments for utility bills and credit cards etc
  • Pay off any debts
  • Minimise the use of existing credit arrangements to within 50% of your credit limit
  • Don’t apply for additional credit

Deposit

The deposit requirement for Self-Employed applicants is not higher than for other applicants, and in theory, 10% should be enough for a Standard Residential Mortgage application. That being said, if you can afford more than the minimum deposit requirement you will strengthen your application.

Financial preparation

Ensure any accounts for tax years that will be supporting your mortgage application have been signed off by a certified accountant.

Speak to The Mortgage Store

Here at The Mortgage Store, we specialise in helping Self-Employed applicants to find the most suitable specialist Mortgage Lender for their circumstances. As all lenders’ criterias vary, this means that we can save you the time and the frustration of failed applications, by ensuring you focus only on those lenders whose criteria you can meet, and who can offer you a competitive deal.

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