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.”
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