Small business partnership and mortgage

[Dimblebimble]

Does anyone have experience applying for a mortgage when one of the applicants is a company owner in a partnership? My husband runs a small company with his dad.

When we bought our first house a few years ago my husband wasn't a partner he just worked for the company. We're starting to think about moving, but I'm finding it impossible to estimate how much mortgage we could get as the calculators all ask for salary.

He pays himself a low salary of less than 1k a month, and then they pay themselves dividends a few times a year. Will they count dividends as income? Or is it just the formal salary? Do lenders see being a company owner as more risky? Is there anything we should be doing now to up our chances of a good mortgage application (e.g. does he need to pay himself a good salary?)

I'd be the main earner I think, he'd be co-applicant

I'd suggest you consult a mortgage broker rather than go direct with the main mortgage providers. Brokers usually have a better grasp of which lenders are better to deal with business owners. But, to answer your question, yes, they'd usually accept dividends and wages as income, not just wages alone. You just can't usually get a mortgage via the usual online applications forms etc which aren't aimed at business owners so you can't usually fill in the online forms properly.

Thanks @Badbadbunny We used a mortgage broker last time, but we're not looking at moving right away so worried he'll think we're wasting his time if we ask for an estimate now. We probably won't move for a couple of years as we're in a fixed mortgage until 2020 but I'd like a rough ballpark so I can get an idea of what houses and areas we can afford and how much we need to save...