If you are self employed, finding out how much you can borrow on a mortgage can be a little tricky. Fortunately we have developed this calculator to give you a quick estimate of the maximum mortgage available and how likely it is to be acceptable.
Don’t forget to read our guide to self employed mortgages and use our mortgage comparison tool to search thousands of live offers. Our expert team are here to offer you free mortgage advice, just get in touch.
In the chart below you can see the typical range of mortgage that could be available. The higher the amount you need on this scale, the less likely it is to be possible.
How will lenders assess my self employed income?
Mortgage lenders will want to see proof of your self employed income usually over a period of 1-3 years. How they assess your income differs depending on whether you are a sole trader, operate as a partnership, as a limited company or as a contractor.
For sole traders, the lender will consider the net profit of the business and for a partnership, they will look at each partner’s share of the profit along with any draws.
If you are a director of a limited company however, lenders will typically consider your salary plus any dividends although some will consider retained profits. Contractors can get special treatment with certain lenders who may be willing to look at the daily rate of pay if the individual has a strong track record in their line of work.
The following is a suggested list of paperwork to get together for your self employed mortgage application. This is just a guideline and lenders may ask for other information.
When looking for someone to help you with your paperwork, bear in mind that most lenders will insist that accounts are prepared by an accountant who is chartered or certified:
1-3 years’ worth of accounts prepared by an accountant if part of a limited company
SA302’s for 1-3 years – this is the self-assessment form that shows how much personal income you declared to HMRC and how much tax you paid
Bank statements for 3 months
Proof of your deposit
Details of any debt repayments and other outgoings
If you don’t have 2-3 years of accounts as you haven’t been operating for long enough, then you may still be able to get a self employed mortgage if you can prove to the lender that your business is busy and there is plenty of work lined up and have completed the first year of trading.
Some assumptions our mortgage calculator has made
In order to keep the calculator easy to use we have had to make some assumptions so please take these into account and get in touch if you feel any of them affect you particularly.
A repayment mortgage
A mortgage term of at least 15 years
Your general household bills, travel costs, family size are in line with ONS averages
Good credit history
A deposit of at least 10% (or an LTV < 90%)
