TV Freelancer Self Employed and PAYE

mortgagehel

Hi there,
Obvs new to this forum but would be really grateful for any advice anyone could give me.

Situation is that I have worked for the last 4 years+ has a Freelance TV Professional moving from short contract to short contract as is the industry norm.

We are currently applying for a mortgage and i've tried to explain my situation as follows. Last year all my income was schedule D (38K net profit) but the year before it was a mix of schedule D and PAYE (total of 29K after tax/expenses - made up of 22K PAYE and 7.5K schedule D)

The advisor did our application on the basis of these figures with me as self employed for last 2years and I did explain to him about the 22k being tax deducted at source. He told me to get SA302 forms for these two years which I've requested and that it should be okay but after researchng online i'm not so sure...

My big worry is that if they are assessing me as self employed they may say they can only take the schedule D part for my income from that year which was 7.5K. This would be gameover for our mortgage and house offer.

My partner earns 21k a year in a full time job.

I also have further records showing my income for 2008-9 and 2009-10 again employed in a freelance PAYE capacity.

Effectively nothing has changed for me apart from the fact that I now pay tax by SA rather than PAYE. My earnings have always gone up and the contracts have always been the same.

What do people think about this? The lendor is nationwide who we also bank with.

There was a lady writing in the Guardian last month in a similar siutation who was REFUSED.

Any professional opinions or other advice appreciated!
thank you

Dave_Ham

Nationwide will be hard work here, as they will not separate the income classification.

I am confident you will be able to get this through, but would suggest you see a decent broker as you will probably need a tailored solution...

If you are determined to use Nationwide, check their policy before credit searching and ask the specific questions about income as they sometimes just want the application in branch and on phone...

Good luck

mortgagehel

Thanks a lot for the advice. Unfortunately we have already passed the credit score and the application is being processed pending paperwork.

It seems we've been a bit naive and, as you say, I think maybe the advisor wanted to get the application on his target sheet without really considering too deeply.

Apologies to ask more questions but a few things I'm unclear on:

1) With freelance work of this type (PAYE but sometime working for more than one person simulatenously) it seems it could be considered self employed anyway. Would it be worth me seeing an accountant who could do my official accounts and provide a letter to nationwide explaining my situation in a more official capacity that i can do? (assuming they are not likely to be familiar with the intricacies of a niche industry)

2) I've tried to ascertain the Nationwide's exact income criteria and it doesn't seem conclusive but assuming the worst and, we can get something else set up through a broker, would it be better for our credit rating to withdraw the application rather than nationwide eventually rejecting it?

3) What's a tailored solution?

4) I have all the P45's from my PAYE contracts, will these help to provide at all? I've been with Nationwide for years so they can see exactly what's been coming into my account and how much money I have available.

I understand Nationwide are difficult but they seem to do the best rates that's why we tried with them in the first place.

thanks again for your help

holly_hobby

I would agree with Dave H, any mge application on the back of employment in the entertainment industry, as with the nature of employment contracts in this arena, will always require more leg work and its all in the presentation of the facts.

Nationwide, as with all lenders, will want to see a proven track record in this role, renewed contracts, a decent duration left on the current contract (enhanced if known to be renewed at the end of the current term), with overall longevity in the type of service you provide to the industry and consistency of income levels - i.e front line roles such as actors, singers, presenters, etc (in my experience) typically find it most difficult to find lenders, due to the typically volatile aspect of their earning capacity as a result of the nature of their side of the industry (eg general popularity etc), in contrast to say those who work on the technical side (and perceived more stable) , such as behind the scenes roles.

If you are not able to convince NWide with the info provided, and your historical banking relationship with them, which should help if it clearly demonstrates your income (if your main account), and to cut further heartache and legwork, you need to go straight to a specailist broker who sources (or at least has some experience and knowledge) of placing mges for the entertainment industry, and/or who has access to various contacts whom will be able to source an AIP with a suitable lender (which will be restrictive in number, so you may not have the wide choice of products that you may currently hope for).

To that end, I would ask around your fellow colleagues if they know of such a broker, as certainly one or more of them will be/or have been in the same boat at some point and may be able to give you a helpful name or 2 as a starting point.

Make sure you are happy with any broker fee structure before you commence (esp if up front i.e is all or part of the fee refunded if they are unable to place the mge (albeit you can't expect anyone to work for free !!) ) ..... and I of course wish you well.

Hope this helps

Holly x

Dave_Ham

Apologies, I just re-read your first post giving the full details and it will be borderline how Nationwide deal with this..

Now I am not knocking them as a lender at all, I actually like using Nationwide as they are clear and the rates are competitive as you say...

That said, if you did not have full history with them I would not fancy your chances, but certainly think you should stick with it and see what they come back with. Chase them though and keep on chasing as you do not want the Estate Agent all over you before you get to the right mortgage...

When I referred to a tailored solution, it was me saying that its hard to give answers or solutions without knowing the absolute full picture..

As a mortgage broker, I hate people who will throw in on a forum use the x bank as they have this xyz rate. In reality a mortgage product is personal to your needs and circumstances, taking into consideration your income, credit score and loan to value...

Fingers crossed with Nationwide...

mortgagehel

thanks very much to you both.
yes we plan to stick with it and, are amassing as much relevant information as we can. I also have a recommendation for a broker who handles a lot of tv freelancers.
had an interesting insight from hsbc also. They say they would count both sources of income as they are from the same industry and require the same skill set. It remains to be seen if nationwide are equally enlightened...