Getting a mortgage when you’re self-employed can raise a lot of questions. Whether you’re a sole trader, limited company director, contractor, freelancer or CIS worker, understanding how lenders assess your income is essential.
At New Wave Financial Services, we specialise in helping self-employed applicants find suitable mortgage options. Explore our frequently asked questions to learn more about mortgage eligibility, income requirements, lender criteria, fees and the application process.
Yes. Being self-employed does not prevent you from getting a mortgage, though it does change how lenders assess you. Rather than payslips, lenders look at your declared profits, dividends or day rate, and different lenders take very different views of the same figures. This is why self-employed applicants are often better served by a specialist broker than by approaching a high street bank directly.
We’re specialist mortgage brokers based in the UK who focus exclusively on helping self-employed people get a mortgage, including sole traders, limited company directors, contractors, freelancers and CIS workers. Because we only work with self-employed applicants, our advisers understand how different lenders assess self-employed income and how to present an application clearly.
Self-employed income doesn’t always fit neatly into standard mortgage criteria, and many mainstream lenders take a narrow view of it. We work with a wide panel of lenders experienced in self-employed cases, so we can match you to those whose criteria best fit how you’re taxed and how your business is structured.
We help:
We also handle more complex circumstances, including applicants with one year of trading history, a recent jump in profits, multiple income sources, or those who have been declined elsewhere.
Many lenders ask for two or three years, but this is not a universal requirement. Some specialist lenders will consider one year of accounts where the figures are strong and well-evidenced. The number of years you can show affects which lenders are available to you rather than whether a mortgage is possible at all.
We work with a wide panel of lenders experienced in assessing self-employed applicants, including high street and specialist lenders such as Metro Bank, Nationwide, Halifax, Virgin Money, Scottish Widows, Clydesdale Bank, Aldermore, Precise Mortgages, Pepper Money, Kensington, Saffron Building Society and Leeds Building Society.
Yes. New Wave Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 779395). You can check our details on the Financial Services Register.
Yes. We charge a one-off broker fee of £1,495, invoiced once your mortgage has been accepted by the lender: your application has been submitted, the lender is satisfied with your paperwork, and their surveyor has valued the property. At that point you’ll receive a formal, legally binding mortgage offer. Nothing is payable before then.
Typically 2–4 weeks for lender approval, though this varies with your circumstances and the lender’s workload. Our fastest turnaround to date has been 48 hours. If speed matters to you, tell your adviser and they’ll factor it into which lenders we approach.
As a minimum: proof of ID, proof of address, proof of deposit and proof of income. What counts as proof of income depends on how you trade:
Most lenders will also ask for your last three months’ personal and business bank statements. Your adviser will confirm the full list for your specific case at your first consultation.
As a general rule, lenders cap borrowing at around 5 x your assessed income, though the figure they use and the multiple they apply both vary by lender. We have access to lenders who will consider considerably more than the standard multiple where your circumstances support it. Our mortgage calculator will give you an initial estimate, and your adviser can give you a figure based on your actual numbers.
No broker can guarantee any lender’s decision, and we won’t suggest otherwise. What we can say is that self-employed applications are most often declined for reasons that are avoidable: they go to a lender whose criteria don’t fit, or the income is presented in a way that understates it. Our advisers and in-house underwriting team review your case before it’s submitted and match you to lenders whose criteria suit your circumstances, which is where our experience makes the most difference.
From your first consultation through to completion, your adviser guides you at each stage. Your application is reviewed by your adviser and our in-house underwriting team before it goes to a lender, which helps identify problems early rather than after a decline.
A decline from one lender doesn’t mean a decline everywhere. We’ll review the reason given, address it where we can, and approach a lender whose criteria better fit your circumstances. Our fee is only invoiced once a mortgage offer has been issued, so there is nothing to pay if we don’t secure one for you. The New Wave Guarantee may also apply — see above.
Fill in our short online enquiry form or call us on 0203 7945 455. One of our advisers will talk through your circumstances and the options available to you.
As with any mortgage, your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured against it. Please think carefully before securing other debts against your home.
On net profit, as declared on your SA302 tax calculation, rather than on turnover. This catches people out: a sole trader with strong turnover but heavily reduced taxable profit may be assessed on a much lower figure than they expect.
Not necessarily. Some specialist lenders charge slightly higher rates, but many are competitive with standard residential products. Rates depend more on your deposit size and credit profile than on the fact that you are self-employed.
More questions on our Sole Trader Mortgages page.
It depends on the lender. Some assess salary plus dividends, others salary plus your share of profit in the company. The second approach often produces a higher figure for directors who leave profit in the business, so identifying which lenders use it matters more than anything else in a director application.
Some lenders will consider retained profits, particularly where you hold at least 25% of the company shares. This is not a mainstream criterion, so it usually means approaching a specialist lender rather than a high street bank.
More questions on our Limited Company Director Mortgages page.
Often, yes. Lenders who understand contractor income will assess affordability on your current day rate and contract rather than your declared profit, which frequently produces a higher figure than the accounts-based approach a high street bank would take.
Yes. If your contracts renew regularly or you have work lined up, many lenders will accept shorter or rolling contracts, particularly where you can show continuity through past contracts and invoices.
More questions on our Contractor Mortgages page.
Many lenders want two to three years, though several specialist providers will consider one, particularly where you have strong contracts in place or income that is clearly growing.
Some lenders will accept signed future contracts or pipeline evidence alongside your trading history. This is particularly useful for newer freelancers or those whose income varies significantly year to year.
More questions on the Freelancer Mortgages page.
Yes, and this is common for CIS workers. Lenders will often average your last 3, 6 or 12 months of payslips to smooth out peaks and dips, which usually gives a fairer picture than any single month.
Yes. The process works the same way as it does for employed applicants. You will evidence earnings through CIS vouchers, payslips or accounts rather than payslips alone.
More questions on the CIS Worker Mortgages page.
Yes, with the right lender. Many want two or three years of accounts, but a number will consider a single year where the figures are strong. Your industry background matters too, and the One Year Trading Mortgages page covers how previous employment, start-up costs and unfinalised accounts are treated.
Sometimes, though not always. A shorter track record narrows the range of lenders available to you, and a narrower range means less competition on price. A larger deposit is usually the most effective way to offset that.
More questions on our One Year Trading Mortgages page.
High street lenders often average your last two years, which can substantially undervalue recent growth. Specialist lenders can instead use your latest, higher year on its own. For limited company directors, some will also consider salary plus dividends or salary plus share of net profit, whichever produces the better figure.
Accountant-prepared company accounts, SA302s and tax year overviews, and both business and personal bank statements. The bank statements matter more than usual here, because they demonstrate that the higher profit reflects sustained cashflow rather than a one-off.
More questions on the Jump in Profit Mortgages page.
Traditional lenders often focus on one income source and disregard the rest, which reduces borrowing power considerably. Specialist lenders will combine verified income across all your streams, whether business profits, PAYE salary, rental or contract income, and some will base their assessment on your most recent tax year where it better reflects your current position.
Documentation covering each income source: company accounts and SA302s for self-employed or rental income, payslips for PAYE earnings, and around 12 months of contracting history where one stream is contract-based, plus business and personal bank statements.
More questions on the Mortgages with Multiple Incomes page.
Yes. A decline from one lender does not mean a decline everywhere, and it often reflects a mismatch between your circumstances and that lender criteria rather than a problem with your application. We review what happened, identify the issue, and approach lenders whose criteria you are more likely to meet.
There is no fixed waiting period, but applying again immediately to another lender without changing anything tends to repeat the outcome and adds another credit search to your file. It is usually worth understanding the reason first.
More questions on the Recently Declined Mortgages page.
