Any self employed people just applied for a mortgage??

[WhereverIlaymyhat2021]

Had a meeting with our mortgage advisor this morning and it was all a bit gloomy.

We met with him in Nov just after we’d put the house on all very positive. Understand things have moved on but there’s been little in the press about the housing market being negatively effected.

Our sales progressing and now that we know that and an actual sale price we thought we’d get back in touch so we can get a more detailed figure on what we can borrow.

I work PT and DH runs his own business, it’s been relatively in affected by the pandemic but has been quiter. Normally we are in the position where we are working every hour god sends as you never like to turn down work so it being quiter has not made the greatest dent.

Even so the advisor was very gloomy in contrast, said they’re looking at everything a lot more forensically and will be looking at the bank acccpunt not just the books to make sure what’s been coming in over a 3 month period matches the average of the past few years. Thing is 3 months wouldn’t really give a proper picture as DH does contracts that can last 6 months.

We came off the call very flat even though (please god) things haven’t changed loads.

Any other self emps recently applied or in the middle of applying??

Yes my husband and I applied he is self employed, he produced two year of accounts and 3 months payslips and we found out today we were declined on the basis that his net profit will likely be impacted by COVID. We are gutted

My friend SE was refused. My other friend who is SE and also has a PAYE job, currently furloughed was refused because she was furloughed.

What a joke!

Yes husband (self employed) and I (full time employed) applied recently and got accepted. We had to show two year's accounts for him and the usual 3 months worth of bank statements for each of us. They asked more questions about my job (even though it was unaffected by COVID) than they did about his.

@Potterurotter how did they decide that it would be impacted, did you feel it wouldn’t be?

@pitapatarain how strange, our MA didn’t think they were looking any more closely at employed people unless they were furloughed and @Oblomov21 he said they weren’t really lending whilst people were on furlough.

@WhereverIlaymyhat2021 I was asked by the lender whether I had been furloughed which I hadn't, but despite that they still wanted a letter from my employer confirming my terms of employment.

@WhereverIlaymyhat2021 presumably the general impact of COVID on driving instructors being able to work meaning he won’t earn as much this year. But things are going to get better not worse he has a full diary from April why agree in principle and then say no. Our mortgage broker says it’s clearly affordable but :S

My DD is self employed and wanted a mortgage on her own. She needed 3 years of accounts. They seemed happy with earnings potential. Not really affected by Covid and less expenses as travelling is reduced. Her loan to value ratio was good though.

I think employees on furlough could well be an issue for loans because the future s insure and anyone self employed whose work is seriously impacted is likely to be refused.

Lenders are being way way more investigative and enquiring now because of covid. I suggest (apologies if you already have) getting a mortgage adviser, one who is experienced in self-employed applicants. They will be able to assess your situation and advise you whether you can try for a mortgage, and if so, which lenders to approach.

Apologies OP, it's late and I clearly didnt read your post properly arghhh sorry

Haha @LalalalalalaLand123 don’t worry, yes we have, that’s one of the areas he specialises in and he’s whole of market. It just felt so negative, yet I’ve not been furloughed and whilst DH has been quieter its only fractionally and has remained continuous and unaffected, the slight downturn has been building since the very start of next year and nothing to do with COVID - too difficult and industry specific to explain but soooooo frustrating as we’ll get lumped in with COVID 😩. Things are already busier since the last quarter of 2020 but obviously won’t be reflected in last tax year’s books.

We haven’t found anything yet so wondering whether we’re just better stepping back and renting and really taking out time to find something perfect, until things improve across the board and the lenders are less sensitive. Surely there’ll be less hesitancy as things start to get better - which surely they must and it becomes clearer who are the industries/businesses which will be affected long term.

@PresentingPercy that’s good to know thank you. I’ve not been furloughed.

We’ve been debating this as our flat is on the market. We’d thought we might sit it out but with yesterday’s announcement, most people seem to think house prices will be artificially propped up, so we don’t want to get priced out.

Our broker seems confident that as I haven’t had SEISS, we’ll go through the normal procedure, and our AIP was fine... but I’m nervous. Thankfully if needs be, we could potentially go for a cheaper house, move things round a bit and DH could get the mortgage on his salary instead, he hasn’t been furloughed and his industry is okay.