Self-employed - mortgage

trailingspouse

We run our own (successful) business. Last year we took about £72,000 in dividends, and look set to do about the same again this year. However - we can't get a mortgage.

We moved abroad (only to the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the EU) in 2007, and returned in 2010. This, apparently, ruined our credit rating (despite the fact that we were on good money, running a similar type of business). When we first came back to the UK our credit rating was so poor that we couldn't even get mobile phone contracts, let alone a mortgage!! Over the last 18 months, we've built up our rating (making sure we're on the electoral role, closing unused accounts etc), and should, based on that alone, be able to get a mortgage. However, the mortgage providers continue to throw their hands up in horror, because we're self-employed. We've been told we need two years' books (we have one year from the business in the UK, and could provide 3 years from Ireland, but they won't accept those).
Does anyone have any thoughts as to how we could improve our chances of getting a mortgage? It's so frustrating to be paying out money in rent that could be going towards a mortgage. I've heard somewhere that there's a mortgage company that will arrange a mortgage based on how much you pay in rent, on the basis that if you can afford the rent you can afford the mortgage - any ideas, or did I just dream it?

opinions4u

How big is your deposit?

What is your purchase price?

What is the net profit of the business for the most recent accounts?

Dave_Ham

Hi,

You just need to see a broker, this can be done.

Obviously credit score is a factor, but there are lenders out there that will consider your circumstances manually.

Additionally, you are likely to need a sensible deposit.

What deposit do you have and what purchase price are you looking at?

The rent thing is a bit of a myth, although lenders who manually underwrite will factor this in...

All the best