MSE News: Can the self employed still get a mortgage?

dunstonh

I have spoken to L&G (recommended by Martin) who seemed to think I should pursue option b) and to use Natwest. However I am concerned that Natwest might agree in principle only to turn me down when they realise im a contractor at a later date.

You mean L&C. You wouldnt use L&G as they are rather poor. I'm not saying you would get a different answer but L&C do have a reputation for cherry picking the easy stuff and not wanting to do the more complicated things. Yours is more complicated. A local broker is likely to spend the time required to research and find out and not just be looking for the easy one to deal with direct.

I would prefer a return to proper bank managers you can meet and explain your individual situation which they then decide rather than inflexible computer algorithms.

It has gone a little back to that (not enough but trending that way) and business customers of banks can find that the lending decision is made by a business manager. However, not all the banks have dedicated business arms. You tend to find the ex building societies are weak on that front. It tends to be the old big 4 that are better there.

Guilefox

yes sorry I meant London & Country (not L&G) I wonder if I say B&S there is a broker for that too :rotfl:

Msmer1973

Hi Guilefox

I've had some very recent and frustrating experiences in trying to get my (self-employed) partner's income taken into account. We're not there yet but I have found that if you keep pushing and questioning banks on why they are blatantly discriminating against a particular employment status some will eventually agree to at least consider what evidence of income you have in the absence of full certified accounts.

My partner has 1 year's worth of accounts for his recently-formed Ltd company. Prior to co formation he was self-employed and didn't have any accounts prepared. As he doesn't have 3 years of accounts he is providing to them the 1 year of audited accounts and letters from his accountants confirming his income for the other 2 years, together with HMRC returns and company & personal bank statements showing how much has gone into his personal account from his business. Not sure we've met their evidential threshold yet, but at least they are considering it (it is Post Office).

I'm not saying that lenders need to flex their lending practices so as to lend to those who don't have evidence of income, but I am saying that they need to be less rigid and more dynamic in terms of the evidence of earnings they are willing to consider.

Good luck.

Good luck.