Self Employed mortgage adviser in essex
You’ve built your business; let us help you build your future. We specialise in mortgages for Limited Company Directors, Sole Traders, and Contractors, even those with only one year of accounts.
ARE YOU SELF EMPLOYED AND LOOKING TO GET A MORTGAGE?
START BY Watching my self employed mortgages video
We Speak Your Accountant’s Language
Navigating a self employed mortgage doesn't have to be a headache. We work directly with your accounts to find the most tax efficient way to prove your income.
The "Steps to Prepare"
Step 1 - Tax Calculations (SA302s): Download your last two years of Tax Calculations and Tax
Overviews from your Government Gateway. These are the "golden documents" for lenders.
Step 2 - Company Accounts
If you are a Director, have your full finalised accounts ready (not just the abbreviated ones). We look for the "Net Profit" figure.
Step 3 - The 1 Year Solution
Only been trading for 12–22 months? Don't wait. We have access to specialist lenders who accept just one year of accounts for established industries.
Step 4 - Bank Statements
Ensure your personal and business spending are clearly separated. Lenders look for "clean" accounts during the underwriting process.
Step 5 - The Professional Advantage
If you are a Solicitor, Accountant, or Architect, you may be eligible for "Professional" mortgages with higher borrowing limits.
Mortgages for CIS and Construction Workers
Are you a CIS worker in Essex? We use your gross pay (before the 20% tax deduction) to calculate your borrowing power, often allowing you to borrow significantly more than a standard bank would allow.
What do lenders consider as self employed?
If you own more than 20-25% of the shares in a business then you are considered self-employed. You could be a sole trader, a company director, in a partnership or you could be a contractor or freelancer.
If you have to complete a company or personal tax return with HMRC for your main income, it is likely that lenders will consider you as self-employed, but don’t be concerned we have the experience and expertise to help you navigate this.
What is the difference with a self-employed mortgage?
Whilst the way in which you can prove your income is different to somebody in an employed role, there really is no such thing as a ‘self-employed’ mortgage. Self-employed people apply for the same mortgages, with the same interest rates, as people in employment.
If your partner is employed and you are self-employed, those annual earnings figures can be combined, just like 2 employees would, to provide a household income figure and affordability is assessed on your joint income.
Lenders consider your current and future affordability when looking at your ability to pay for the mortgage you are applying for. Because self-employed incomes tend to fluctuate more than employed people’s, lenders carry out additional checks and request different documents to employed people. Some lenders may request higher deposit amounts. This is so they can be confident you can afford the mortgage payments now and in the future.
Frequently asked questions
Mortgages for company directors
“Well, I have payslips”, if you are a director in a limited company, your accountant will produce payslips for you each month but you cannot use these to obtain a mortgage unless there are very specific circumstances, generally a director in a large global company may only be one of many with a very small shareholding, but right now this is about those companies where you own 20%-100% of the shareholding.
You will still need your personal tax calculations to access mortgage lending, the way this shows is slightly different, unlike above your income may show 2 elements; ‘pay from all employments’ and ‘dividend payments’. These two figures can be added together to give you your taxable income. However you will need to also show your company accounts so that the lender can see that your ‘pay from all employments’ has come from this company and not a combination of employment, and so they can see that the company has made profit, and it’s sustainable going forwards.
One other advantage of a limited company, is that whilst the company is taxed on all profit, the individual director may choose to leave some of that profit in the company for future investment. Some lenders do allow company directors to use a combination of company profit and the directors salary, rather than dividend and salary, there are a limited number of mortgage providers that can do this, but we can help you access those.
“Should I just take a larger salary?” Many directors, on advice of their accountant take most of their income through dividends and have a smaller salary, you may feel that having a larger salary with payslips will be easier, but the lenders know that as director, that interview requesting the pay rise would be an interesting thing to watch, as a famous British comedian once joked about! They still need to see the tax calculations from the HMRC or your accountant, combined with your company accounts.
Mortgages with only 1 year's accounts
It is possible to get a mortgage after only one year of trading, the main thing you need to be aware of is lenders need to have some reassurance that the business will continue to do well, we will help you to prepare your application to show this. Any previous experience in the field helps, and any partial accounts or accountants estimates for coming years, are just 2 options that could help provide the lenders reassurance that the business will continue to be successful.
“I have been trading for more than a year, but this latest year we really hit our stride, can’t they just use this year’s income” – potentially yes, we can help you find a lender that will based the mortgage borrowing on the latest year. You will need to be able to provide the lenders reassurance that the business will continue to be successful to the same level that it has this year, and explain why this year has been better than before, but we will help you to prepare your application to show this.
Mortgages with 2 year's accounts
Many lenders average your profits over the last 2 or sometimes 3 years, to get a good understanding of the likely profit that could be achieved, however if this latest year was lower, they could take that lower figure instead. They need to see an income that is sustainable going forwards, that’s why many take an average.
If this year has been your best year yet, we can help you find a lender that will based the mortgage borrowing on the latest year. You will need to be able to provide the lenders reassurance that the business will continue to be successful to the same level that it has this year, and explain why this year has been better than before, but we will help you to prepare your application to show this.
Do I have to have an accountant? No, but you do need to show the tax calculations and overviews from your government gateway accounts and it can be helpful as some lenders can accept accountants references in place of the tax calculations and overviews, or could request an accountants projection or estimation of the next years figures.
Mortgages for contractors or freelancers
Lenders view contractors in very different ways and Evergreen Mortgages are here to help you navigate this and get the best options for you.
Day rate, Umbrella companies, Agency and short term or fixed rate contracts are all viewed differently. Depending on the way in which your business is set up or the way in which you are paid you may need to provide different paperwork. A contractor could be asked for your latest and previous contracts, you could be asked for your tax returns or if using an umbrella company you may need to provide the contract and the payslips from the umbrella company.
Get in touch for a one-to-one consultation to review your specific circumstances.
Mortgages on the CIS or construction industry scheme
If you are part of the construction industry scheme, you may need to send your CIS remittance slips and your tax calculations (previously known as SA302’s) and the matching tax overview which confirms the tax paid. Your accountant or umbrella company should be able to help you access these. If you’re a sole trader doing your own accounts you can access the needed paperwork through your government gateway account and we can provide guides to help you with this.
Depending on the lender, and your work history, you may be able to use your remittance slips like a standard payslip and have your mortgage affordability calculated based on this figure.
Evergreen Mortgages knows just the right lenders to talk to so reach out today and we can start the process for you.
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AREAS COVERED
MORTGAGE ADVISeR in essex
Evergeen Mortgages is based in Upminster, Essex and provides mortgage advice.
Covering the majority of Essex including Brentwood, Shenfield, Billericay, Basildon, Chelmsford, Canvey Island, Dagenham, Epping, Hornchurch, Ilford, Ingatestone, Maldon, Romford, Southend, Upminster and Wickford.
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Evergreen Mortgages, 9 Stanley Road, Bulphan, Upminster, Essex, RM14 3RX
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LEGAL INFORMATION
Typically, a fee no greater than £995 is charged for mortgage advice on receipt of a mortgage offer or on successful completion. This would be confirmed in writing once a brief outline of your borrowing requirements have been established. Many of our competitors charge upfront fees for advising and processing applications, regardless of the outcome, whereas our fee is only ever payable on receipt of a mortgage offer or on completion.
Evergreen Mortgages is a trading name of AGA Mortgages who is an appointed representative of Mortgage Intelligence Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under number 305330 respect of mortgage, insurance and consumer credit mediation activities only.
We always aim to provide a high quality service to our customers. However, if you encounter any problems and we are unable to resolve them you can take your complaint to an independent Ombudsman. Our advice is covered under the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Please note that most buy to let and commercial loans are not regulated by the FCA and neither is some bridging finance. We shall advise if your specific finance requirement is classed as a regulated activity and therefore covered by the FCA.