Potential self-employed mortgage borrowers are already convinced they won’t get a mortgage and this is a real challenge we need to help them get over, said Charles McDowell, Aldermore’s group mortgage commercial director.
Speaking at The Specialist Lending Event, McDowell (pictured) said contractors can falsely believe it’s hard to get a mortgage, alongside the difficulties some have proving affordability due to paperwork or a reduced tax liability.
“It’s fundamental that we support these workers,” he said.
With self-employment now accounting for 15% of the UK’s employed population, or 4.7m workers up from 3.8m in 2008, opportunity continues to grow for mortgage brokers.
The self-employed accounted for 10% of mortgage completions in 2015, or 100,000 mortgages, with 20% of people saying they’d like to start their own business in the next two years.
Part-time self-employment has grown in step with full-time self employment and women are driving the charge out of employed work, accounting for 58% of the growth in numbers since 2008.
Rounding off his presentation, McDowell said: “The self-employed feel like they’re second-class citizens when dealing with the mortgage industry. The UK economy is only growing because of the self-employed currently, so we need to support them.”
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
