Self-employed mortgages and specialist advice
Understand how your income may be assessed and what to prepare for a mortgage application.
Advice for sole traders, directors, partners, freelancers, contractors and CIS workers.
Understand how your income may be assessed and what to prepare for a mortgage application.
Advice for sole traders, directors, partners, freelancers, contractors and CIS workers.
Illustrative example: a sole trader with £100,000 turnover and £60,000 business expenses has £40,000 profit in this simplified example. Taking £30,000 in drawings does not reduce that profit to £10,000. These figures explain the accounting distinction, not a lender’s accepted income or a borrowing offer.
For a partnership, the starting point may be your attributable share of profit. The lender may ask for evidence of how that share is calculated and paid.You can read Count Ready customer reviews on Google in their original context. For the broker service and how it differs from a lender, see our self-employed mortgage broker page.
Requirements vary by lender and assessment route. Some lenders consider eligible applicants with one completed year’s accounts or tax evidence; others require a longer record. Tell your adviser when you began trading and which periods your documents cover. A partial first year is different from a full year of accounts.
Some lenders can consider a qualifying share of company profit alongside salary, while others use salary and dividends. Ownership, business performance and the lender’s criteria matter. Money accumulated in the company is not automatically annual personal income, and dividends must not be counted twice.
There is no single deposit requirement for self-employed applicants. The lender, product, property, income evidence and credit circumstances affect the options. A larger deposit can change the products available, but it does not remove the need for income verification and affordability checks.
Explain which documents are available and why anything is missing. A tax calculation, tax year overview and set of accounts serve different purposes. Some lenders accept alternative combinations of evidence, but this still involves verification. You may need to obtain further records or complete another accounting period before applying.
Mixed employed and self-employed applications can be considered. Each applicant’s income, credit circumstances and commitments need assessment. Prepare the documents relevant to each income source; one applicant’s salary does not automatically resolve concerns about the other person’s finances.
It may be possible. Tell your adviser when your current deal ends, what has changed and whether you need additional borrowing. Switching product with your existing lender and moving to another lender can involve different checks. Compare any charges, fees and change to the mortgage term before deciding.
Yes. Start by explaining when the application was declined and the reason given. Further evidence, a correction or more preparation may be needed before another application makes sense. Count Ready can discuss the circumstances, but advice cannot guarantee acceptance or overturn a lender’s decision.
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