If you’ve recently been approached by a customer struggling to get a residential mortgage with a high street lender, the chances are they’re one of the five million people now working for themselves.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics1 show the number of self-employed workers broke through the five million barrier for the first time towards the end of 2019, with the number accounting for around one in six of the UK workforce.
But even though there are more contractors, entrepreneurs, freelancers, gig economy workers and tradespeople than ever before, many of them still can’t get the mortgage they need because mainstream lenders often perceive their income as being too irregular, their accounts as being too complicated or they haven’t been trading for a long enough period.
Perhaps not surprisingly, when Knowledge Bank2, the broker-only online mortgage criteria search system, looked at what the most searched for term used by brokers looking for a residential mortgage was, it wasn’t ‘where can I find the best rates?’ or ‘how much of a deposit does my customer need?’, but ‘which lender accepts one year’s accounts?’.
Unlike many mainstream lenders, here at Precise Mortgages we take every customer’s unique circumstances into account, judging each case on its individual merits.
Our Residential Mortgage range is designed with people who work for themselves in mind. Here are just a few other reasons to consider using us if you’re approached by a self-employed customer who’s looking for a residential mortgage.
- Products with cashback, refund of valuation fee and no product fee options available
- Customers with less than perfect credit histories considered, including CCJs, defaults, DMPs and secured/unsecured arrears
- Limited companies, sole traders, partnerships and fixed term contractors accepted
- Changes in trading style during the last 12 months accepted
Our Self-Employed Income Guide outlines what income we accept and includes tips on how to key applications correctly first time, every time.
If you’d like to find out more about we can help, contact a member of our Sales Team today or call our dedicated support service on 0800 116 4385.
Sources:
1https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/summaryoflabourmarketstatistics (tab 3 on spreadsheet)
2 https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2019/11/05/one-years-accounts-top-broker-search-for-12-months-in-underserved-market/
