Mortgages for the self-employed
Sole trader, freelancer, CIS contractor, day-rate consultant — if you earn outside a standard payslip, this is the page that should make you feel like a normal mortgage applicant again.
- Mortgages from 1 year of accounts (sometimes less for contractors)
- Up to 95% loan-to-value for first-time buyers
- Multi-year income averaging where it helps you
- Day-rate × 5 × 46 used for CIS / umbrella contractors
- Specialist + high-street lenders. No "sub-prime" if not needed.
How lenders actually assess self-employed income.
There are four common patterns — and matching you to the right one is half the job. The other half is presenting your accounts so the underwriter sees what they need to see.
SA302 line totals — most common
Most lenders take 'Total income received' from your last two SA302s and average them. A few will use the latest year only if it is higher and the trend is upward. The number on your SA302 is what counts — not your turnover, not your bank balance.
Salary + dividends
The default high-street approach. Whatever you actually paid yourself in salary plus declared dividends, averaged over two years. Easy if you draw most of your profit. Painful if your accountant retains profit in the company for tax efficiency.
Salary + share of net profit (the unlock)
A smaller specialist group — Halifax (in some cases), Kensington, Clydesdale, Saffron and a few others — will use salary plus your share of the company's net profit (post-corporation-tax). For directors who retain profit, this can roughly double the figure used to calculate borrowing.
Day rate × 5 × 46 (or × 48)
For CIS, umbrella and limited-company contractors with a current contract, a strong specialist panel will use day rate × 5 × 46 — i.e. 46 working weeks a year — as gross annual income. No accounts required. A signed contract and 6–12 months' history is usually enough.
What you will need to send me.
The earlier we get these together, the smoother the application. Most clients can pull this in a single afternoon.
Self-employed mortgage questions, answered.
The questions I get asked five times a week, written out properly so you do not have to call me to ask them.
Tell me what you do for a living. I will tell you what you can borrow.
15 minutes, no paperwork, no commitment. You will leave the call with a real number from a real lender.