Increasingly affluent and numerous self-employed individuals represent a growing market-sector, according to UCB, a subsidiary of Nationwide Building Society.
According to UCB, the average purchase price for the self-employed is just under £152,000, compared to the UK average house price of £111,000.
And data from the Survey of English Housing 1999/2000 indicates the number of self-employed in mortgage arrears was 2% ‘ the same as for the employed sector, allaying lenders’ fears of a higher risk.
At 11.3% of the population, the number of self-employed in the UK falls behind the European average of 14%.
But Charles Reed, managing director of UCB, said: ‘When you add the growing band of workers with working styles which differ from the norm, such as part-time contract workers and small business owners, this broader grouping of people who fall into the typical self-cert mortgage bracket is now close to 10 million.’