Self employed, low income last year due to travelling, now on maternity leave – help!

kazlba

My husband and I have owned our house for about 5 years and it has increased in value due to work we’ve done on it. I’m self employed (for about 4 years) and my partner has a full time job. In 08 – 09 we took 7 months out to go travelling so that financial year my income was much lower than usual as I only worked for 4 months.

In Feb 09 we returned to the country and I was pregnant with twins. I spent much of the spring and summer having terrible morning sickness so only worked freelance part time until I went on maternity leave in Sept 09 so my turnover for the current financial year 09 – 10 is even lower than in 08 – 09.

Now that our babies are here we want to move to a bigger property but as my income last year wasn’t great it doesn’t look like we can borrow much more than we already have.

What I want to know is are there any mortgage lenders out there who would lend over 4 x a joint income, or would any lenders look at my 08 -09 income as a pro rata figure (as if I’d worked the full 12 months at the same level I’d have earned my highest turnover since starting freelance).

All advice welcome!

surreybased

Hi,

Not sure although I think it depends on your salary levels, LTV etc. Banks are being very cautious so why not talk to a whole of market broker and see what their thoughts are.
Alternative is to wait for a few years (usually 3 years of full acounts) to prove your income. I was in a similar situation a few years ago, self employed and new baby. Getting back to pre baby income if hard as childcare becomes a problem if babies unwell.
If you're really keen to get a bigger place would you consider renting for a while?