Yule need to support your self-employed customers

Is it really too early to talk about Christmas? Well, if you’re self-employed like Santa, you might not have the luxury of leaving financial matters to the last minute.

With a changing source of income and continued rising costs[1], most self-employed workers will be used to juggling deadlines and planning ahead as they make their lists and check them twice.

They’ve certainly experienced substantial financial pressure due to the pandemic. A recent report from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) found that more than 40% of self-employed had monthly incomes of less than £1,000 – compared with 27% at this income level pre-COVID-19[2].

And now it’s hard to read the news without any of us seeing ‘cost-of-living crisis’ or ‘recession’[3] so it’s unlikely the pressure has subsided.

Despite their struggles, more are starting to see the benefits of being self-employed. The Office for National Statistics stated the number of self-employed workers fell during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, but during the latest three-month period the number has increased for those who are full and part-time self-employed.[4]

According to the latest Twenty7Tec mortgage market findings, September 2022 saw the five busiest days ever for mortgage searches by the self-employed.[5]

As more self-employed customers emerge and search for solutions, it’s important to consider what we can do to help them.

The thought of tackling those dreaded Christmas lists looms over our heads. Food, gifts, cards and the rest. For those who are self-employed, the prospect of looking for a mortgage and preparing the subsequent paperwork to support their application can seem similarly daunting.

It’s not always easy for self-employed workers to secure a residential mortgage with a high street lender either. They can be viewed as unpredictable having circumstances such as only one year’s accounts or a missed credit card payment.

That’s why it’s key for anyone who’s self-employed to find a lender with clear criteria and a specialist range of products that were made with them in mind.

At Precise Mortgages we’re committed to supporting people every step of the way, whether they’re business owners, gig workers, contractors, freelancers or those who’ve felt underserved by high street lenders.

We don’t see self-employment as too complex or demanding but instead look to help these customers achieve property ownership wherever possible.

We’ll accept the following income for self-employed customers:

• For sole traders – net profit, private pension payments where declared on their tax calculation (or SA302 for previous years)
• For partnerships – the relevant share of the net profit
• For limited company directors – remuneration plus dividends, director’s car allowance, director’s pension payment.

• We’ll consider applications with only 1 year’s accounts or Tax Calculation
• Less-than-perfect credit considered including defaults, CCJs and secured and unsecured arrears
• Car allowance and 100% of pension contributions accepted as part of total annual income.

Further details can be found on our buy to let (668kb pdf) and residential (310kb pdf) criteria guides.

If there’s anything that you’d like to discuss, please speak to our sales team for more information and to find out the options that’re available for self-employed customers at Precise Mortgages.

FOR INTERMEDIARIES ONLY.

[1] Cost of living: Energy bills rise but help cushions blow - BBC News

[2] cepcovid-19-028.pdf (lse.ac.uk) (1.3mb pdf)

[3] UK may already be in recession - Bank of England - BBC News

[4] Employment in the UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

[5] Twenty7tec issues September 2022 UK mortgage market findings (insideconveyancing.co.uk)

For adviser use only. Please note this content has been supplied by our lender partner and as such, is their responsibility. No party shall have any right of action against Legal & General in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information in this article.