Recent research* shows that 75% of self-employed people in the UK state believe that their employment status makes it harder to get a mortgage. Given that there are currently 4.85 million people registered as self-employed then this represents a significant number that are struggling to get a mortgage.
The feedback suggests that the self-employed had to jump through more hoops than if they were employed. They had to produce more financial evidence including accounts and Tax Year Overviews. They also had to demonstrate a stable work history with no gaps in employment, which can be a challenge if the person is just setting out on their self-employed journey.
As a result, applicants often had to wait longer while their documentation is approved. In some case there were also additional costs to source some of the required documents.
The applicants also reported that lenders often offered poor guidance and a lack of clarity on what additional documentation is required.
The solution – get independent financial advice from a mortgage advisor
Alison Mitchell, mortgage advisor with IFA RobMac said “We have a lot of self-employed clients as a result of this type of experience. They often come to us after they have not made the progress they would have expected with their previous lender”.
“There are some lenders however that are better at dealing with the self-employed than others. Not only do we have access to those lenders but because we deal with them on a regular basis then we can help speed up the process for our clients as well.”
“We only see this area of the market growing as the numbers of self-employed are projected to grow to 5.5 million by 2022. So it will be important to make sure that they can access mortgage products just as easily as everyone else.”
If you would like to discuss your mortgage with Alison Mitchell, then just click on the link to arrange a meeting: https://www.robmac.co.uk/book-an-appointment/
*Trussle
