Many high street banks and building societies require the self employed to have at least 3 years accounts before they are prepared to offer a mortgage.
For standard mortgages, if the income covers the loan required based on the lender's income multiples then there is usually no problem. Unsurprisingly, mortgages for the self employed are not always this straight forward.
To begin with, many business owners and company directors pay themselves minimal salaries, but often receive dividend payments or a profit share. This can be beneficial for tax purposes but not so good for getting a mainstream mortgage.
However, the Self Certification sector of the UK mortgage market has dramatically increased in size over recent years, and we have witnessed an increasing level of flexibility afforded in the range of self certification mortgage deals that are now available.
As a self-employed person, fluctuations in your income can make it vital to have flexible repayment options, such as the ability to make overpayments, underpayments and even take payment holidays.
Some of our self employed clients also require mortgages that allow them to repay all or part of the mortgage early. Other clients require the flexibility to make additional borrowing when they need it.