shared ownership

Shared Ownership Mortgage Offer in One Week to Meet a Developer Exchange Deadline

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Client A first-time buyer purchasing their first home through the Shared Ownership scheme. The plot was already reserved and the deposit paid. Contact us Objective A mortgage on a 25% […]

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Client

A first-time buyer purchasing their first home through the Shared Ownership scheme. The plot was already reserved and the deposit paid.

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Objective

A mortgage on a 25% share of a new build, bought from a housing association, against an exchange date the developer had already fixed.

Situation

The plot was reserved before any finance was arranged. Construction was nearly finished and the housing association had set the exchange date.

That date had money attached to it. Reservation agreements on new build plots carry fees and penalties where the buyer fails to exchange on time, and the plot itself can go back on the market. Everything else on the case had to work around it.

Shared ownership cuts the lender list before anything else is considered. The buyer mortgages only the share being bought and pays rent to the housing association on what is left, and a large part of the market will not lend against that arrangement in any form. Among the lenders that do, several set a floor on the share size. A 25% share falls under that floor with more than a few of them.

Challenges

  • An exchange deadline set by the developer, with fees and penalties attached to missing it
  • A 25% share, at the low end of what shared ownership lenders will accept
  • A first-time buyer with no prior mortgage or property experience
  • A new build valuation to be completed inside the timescale

What We Did

Three requirements had to be met by one lender: shared ownership accepted, a minimum share of 25% or below, and enough capacity to issue an offer before the deadline.

Plenty of lenders satisfy the first two and fall down on the third. Several of the obvious shared ownership names were running long queues at the time, so turnaround was doing as much work in the decision as criteria were. We placed it with a high street lender rather than a specialist, which held the rate down as well. A first application of any kind turns on the same fundamentals, and whether you can get a mortgage comes down to income, deposit and credit before the scheme is even reached.

The valuation was done by desktop, so no surveyor visit needed booking and several days came out of the timeline.

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Solution

A high street lender accepting the shared ownership purchase at a 25% share, valued by desktop.

Outcome

A mortgage offer issued within one week of the full application being submitted. The legal work completed in time and the client exchanged by the deadline, with no penalties or additional fees incurred.

Conclusion

Shared ownership gets talked about as a way to afford a first home, and much less as a lending problem, which is where these cases are actually won or lost. Share size, the lease the housing association is using and how quickly a lender is currently working all feed into whether the buyer exchanges on the developer’s date. Here the desktop valuation bought more than a slightly better rate would have. Choosing between a part share and a smaller property bought outright is worth working through as part of a wider mortgage strategy rather than in isolation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you get a mortgage on a 25% shared ownership share?

Yes, with fewer lenders to choose from. A minimum share of 25% is a common condition, and some set it higher, so the size of the share is one of the first things checked when the case is placed.

How long does a shared ownership mortgage offer take?

Anything from two to four weeks, driven by the lender’s queue rather than by the shared ownership element itself. With a developer deadline in play, check where a lender’s service levels are sitting before submitting.

What happens if you miss a new build exchange deadline?

Fees or penalties usually apply under the reservation agreement, and the developer can release the plot back to the market. Whether the reservation deposit is returned depends on the terms signed at the outset.

Do all lenders accept the Shared Ownership scheme?

No. Much of the market declines shared ownership outright. Those that lend differ on minimum share, lease requirements and how much new build they will take, so access across the whole market counts for more here than on an ordinary purchase.

Final Thoughts

A share of a new build puts a first-time buyer on the developer’s timetable, with a financial penalty for slipping behind it. What settles the case is getting in front of a lender that both accepts the structure and can process it in the time available, and that is worth knowing before the reservation is signed rather than afterwards.

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker, directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Circumstances vary and the result here reflects these clients alone. It is not an indication of terms available to others. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Call 01628 969 500 or email info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk to speak with a qualified adviser.

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shared ownership

Buy to Let Mortgage for a First Time Landlord with No Letting Experience

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Client An investor buying a first rental property, with no prior experience as a landlord. The purchase was funded from capital the client wanted to put into property rather than […]

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Client

An investor buying a first rental property, with no prior experience as a landlord. The purchase was funded from capital the client wanted to put into property rather than leave on deposit.

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Objective

To secure a buy to let mortgage on an accepted offer, quickly enough to hold the property, with a lender that would accept a landlord with no letting history.

Situation

The client came to us with the offer already accepted. Rates had been rising, but the asking price looked well judged against comparable stock in the area and there was a reasonable case for capital growth over the hold period.

Two problems ran alongside each other.

The first was experience. A number of buy to let lenders want to see an applicant who already owns and lets property, and some will not take a first time landlord at all. Others take them but tighten terms, whether on rate, on the stress rate applied to the rental figure, or on minimum income.

The second was time. Estate agents commonly want sight of an agreement in principle before they will mark a property under offer and stop viewings. Until that happens the property stays exposed to a competing bid, and the buyer has no real hold on it.

Challenges

  • A first time landlord with no letting track record
  • An offer already accepted, with viewings continuing until the property was secured
  • A rising rate environment narrowing what was available week to week
  • Whole of market advice needed on the purchase process as well as the mortgage

What We Did

We ran the lender search around first time landlord acceptance first and price second, on the basis that a competitive rate from a lender that would decline the applicant is worth nothing.

The appointment produced the document list the same day. The client returned everything by email overnight, which let the full application go in the following day rather than the following week. On a case where the constraint is a rival bid rather than a fixed deadline, days matter.

Alongside the mortgage we covered the purchase mechanics: what the agent would want to see and when, how the rental figure would be stress tested, and where the costs fall outside the deposit. Whether to hold a first investment property personally or through a company is part of a wider mortgage strategy and is worth settling before an application goes in.

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Solution

A lender accepting first time landlords, at the best rate available to that applicant profile at the time of submission.

Outcome

The full mortgage application was submitted the day after the initial appointment, with documents received overnight, and the case secured at the rate available in a rising market.

Conclusion

First time landlords tend to assume the deposit is the qualifying test. Lender appetite for an applicant with no letting history is the earlier hurdle, and it varies enough across the market that the same client can be declined by one lender and offered a competitive rate by another. Establishing which lenders take the profile before the search starts is what allows an application to go in at speed rather than after two false starts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you get a buy to let mortgage as a first time landlord?

Yes, though the lender list is shorter. Some buy to let lenders require existing landlord experience, and others accept first time landlords but apply a minimum income requirement or a tighter stress rate on the rental income.

Do you need to own your own home to get a buy to let mortgage?

Many lenders require the applicant to be an existing homeowner, and first time buyer landlords face a much narrower market. It is one of the first criteria checked, alongside letting experience and income.

How quickly can a buy to let mortgage application be submitted?

Within a day of the initial appointment where documents are ready. Payslips or accounts, bank statements, identification and proof of deposit are the usual requirements, and having them to hand is what removes the delay.

Why do estate agents want an agreement in principle?

It evidences that a buyer can fund the purchase, and most agents will not take a property off the market without one. Until viewings stop, a competing offer can still displace an accepted one.

Final Thoughts

A first purchase as a landlord runs on two things at once: finding a lender that will take an applicant with no letting history, and moving fast enough that the property is actually held while that happens. Neither is difficult with whole of market access, but both are considerably harder once an application has already been submitted to the wrong lender.

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker, directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Circumstances vary and the result here reflects these clients alone. It is not an indication of terms available to others. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Call 01628 969 500 or email info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk to speak with a qualified adviser.

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rate

Second Mortgage to consolidate unsecured debt – Case Study 

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The Client: The clients were a married couple who owned their residential home and two Buy to Let properties.  The husband was self-employed and the wife a homemaker.   The clients […]

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The Client:

The clients were a married couple who owned their residential home and two Buy to Let properties.  The husband was self-employed and the wife a homemaker.   The clients had multiple overdrafts which were almost up to their limits.  The clients had been using the overdrafts to stay afloat, a credit card also up to its limit of £14,500 and took out unsecured loans.  The client’s disposable income was in a negative situation.  If the clients didn’t act fast, their credit files would be effected and this would jeopardise any future mortgage applications or the clients would end up with very high rates.

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Scenario:

The clients wanted to remortgage one of the Buy to Let properties that had a fixed rate of 2.6% which was due to end in 2026. The mortgage lender that the client was with didn’t have any Early Repayment Charge (ERC) whilst in the fixed rate period.  With market conditions at the moment, the client’s rate would have doubled if we were to remortgage now.  So, a solution was found to protect the relatively low mortgage rate, and to help client consolidate the unsecured credit to a more manageable repayment. 

The Solution: 

A Second Charge mortgage was raised for the client.  This in turn protected their existing mortgage rate of 2.6% and helped to capital raise to settle unsecured credit. 

The clients raised £43,000 by means of a second mortgage against the Buy to Let property and will be self-funding from the rental income alone.  The second mortgage lender was happy to consolidate the unsecured credit. 

The second mortgage reduced their monthly outgoings from £1,010 per month to a more comfortable repayment of £348 per month.  The client is no longer in a negative disposable income situation.  Their disposable income is now in a more positive position and the clients now have a better quality of life and funds left over for any life events.  

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The pressure and stress they were experiencing was removed.  The second mortgage offered is on a 2yr fixed rate, which will tie in nicely for when client is looking to remortgage when the fixed rate of 2.6% ends. 

By settling all the unsecured credit this also helps the client to be in a better position for remortgage options in the future when their fixed rate ends in 2026 and help client not to have an adverse impact on their credit file. 

Summary: 

Even with high levels of unsecured credit and negative disposable income it is possible to find solutions for our clients as we have the knowledge and tools to reach out to specialist lenders. 

If you have any questions relating to Residential mortgages &/or non-standard scenarios such as this, contact us today to speak directly with one of our CeMAP certified Mortgage Advisors. Call us today on 03330 166 600. Alternatively, please complete this short online form and one of our Advisors will call you right back. 

rate

Right to Buy Purchase with Historic Adverse Credit and Newly Self-Employed Income

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The Client Two brothers applying jointly for a Right to Buy mortgage. One brother has learning difficulties and receives benefits income. The other is his registered carer, receiving income through […]

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The Client

Two brothers applying jointly for a Right to Buy mortgage. One brother has learning difficulties and receives benefits income. The other is his registered carer, receiving income through direct payments for that caring role, and is also self-employed, running his own business for the previous 12 months. Both brothers have historic adverse credit on their files.

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The Objective

To purchase their council property under the Right to Buy scheme, using a combination of benefits income, carer’s direct payments, and self-employed income, despite a short self-employment track record and past credit issues on both applications.

The Situation

Early on, things looked manageable. The benefits income and the direct payments for caring duties were enough to satisfy affordability, and the lender was willing to look past the brothers’ past credit issues instead of using them to shut the application down.

The Challenge

The Right to Buy paperwork from the council changed the picture. It included a required allowance for home improvements to the property, and the lender wanted this amount added to the loan. Once that additional borrowing was factored in, the mortgage was no longer affordable on the figures originally submitted.

Compounding the problem, the self-employed brother had only been trading for 12 months. The income shown on his tax computations for that first year was not enough on its own to support the larger loan now required.

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What We Did

We found a lender prepared to base the assessment on projected income for the coming year, not just the figures already sitting on the first year’s tax computations. That meant bringing the client’s accountant in to produce a formal Accountant’s Certificate, projecting the year ahead and setting out why that figure sat above what the business had shown previously.

The Solution

The lender accepted the projected income figures, supported by the accountant’s certificate and explanation. That additional income, combined with the benefits and direct payments already in the case, brought the loan back within affordable limits, improvement costs included.

The Outcome

The mortgage was approved and the brothers completed their Right to Buy purchase, securing ownership of the home with the necessary improvement works funded as part of the loan.

Conclusion

Right to Buy applications can unravel partway through once the council’s own paperwork adds costs nobody budgeted for at the outset. Getting a case like this over the line took a lender genuinely prepared to weigh benefits income, a carer’s direct payments, past credit problems, and projected earnings from a business barely a year old – all at once, rather than picking off one issue and declining on the next. As a whole-of-market broker with over 300 lenders on our panel, that’s exactly the kind of case we’re built to place, where a single high street application would have stalled at the first income type.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a Right to Buy mortgage using benefits income?

Yes. A number of lenders will factor certain benefits into a Right to Buy application, though eligible benefit types and how they’re weighed differ from lender to lender. Working with a whole-of-market broker means we can point you toward panel members set up to work with your particular income makeup.

Will a lender use projected income if my business is less than two years old?

It happens, though it’s not the norm. A handful of specialist lenders will work from projected figures backed by an Accountant’s Certificate, particularly in cases where last year’s numbers don’t reflect how the business is actually performing now.

Does historic adverse credit rule out a Right to Buy mortgage?

Not necessarily. Certain lenders will take a view on historic adverse credit rather than declining automatically, particularly where the more recent credit conduct is clean and the rest of the application is strong.

Does Right to Buy include the cost of home improvements in the mortgage?

Sometimes. If the council’s Right to Buy documentation flags required improvement work, certain lenders will fold that cost into the mortgage itself – though it pushes up the loan size, which has knock-on effects for what the case can afford overall.

Final Thoughts

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Call: 01628 969 500
Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk

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house prices

Lending Into Retirement: Fast Portfolio Refinance for a Semi-Retired Landlord Buying a Second Portfolio

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The Client A landlord easing into retirement, with an existing Buy to Let portfolio that made up most of his income. Contact us The Objective Another portfolio of properties had […]

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The Client

A landlord easing into retirement, with an existing Buy to Let portfolio that made up most of his income.

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The Objective

Another portfolio of properties had come onto the market, and he needed his current holdings refinanced fast enough to fund the purchase before the opportunity slipped away.

The Situation

Remortgaging looked like the natural first move. Multiple properties meant multiple valuations and a separate cost attached to each one, and once we laid that out against his budget and his timeline, the arithmetic didn’t hold up.

The Challenge

Second charge lending seemed like a reasonable fallback, until we started digging into who actually held the existing mortgages. A number of them sat with lenders that had since stopped operating, and getting sign-off for a second charge from a lender that no longer exists in any functioning sense is not straightforward.

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What We Did

We turned to our specialist panel and found a lender willing to take one charge across the whole portfolio, rather than treating each property as its own separate transaction.

The Solution

One charge meant one legal process and one round of costs, priced competitively, and it cleared far faster than either a full remortgage or a series of individual second charges would have.

The Outcome

Everything completed in time for the client to go ahead with the second portfolio, with fewer costs overall and a pace that matched the deal in front of him.

Conclusion

Speed on a portfolio deal doesn’t have to come at the price of a worse rate or whichever lender happens to answer first. Placing this with a lender open to a single cross-portfolio charge, rather than the usual property-by-property approach, was the piece that turned a tight opportunity into a completed buy to let purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a mortgage that continues into retirement?

Yes. Many lenders will lend past standard retirement age, particularly where the income supporting the loan comes from a property portfolio rather than employment, since portfolio income doesn’t necessarily stop at retirement the way a salary does.

Can one lender take a charge across multiple Buy to Let properties?

Some will, through what’s known as a portfolio or cross-charge facility. Rather than arranging separate lending against each property, one lender secures the borrowing across the whole portfolio, which can mean fewer costs and a faster process than dealing with each property individually.

What happens if my existing mortgage lender no longer operates?

It can complicate raising further borrowing against that property, particularly second charge lending. The original lender needs to consent, and a defunct or inactive lender may be slow or unable to respond. A broker familiar with these situations can identify lenders and structures that work around the issue.

Is a portfolio refinance faster than remortgaging each property separately?

Often, yes. Where a lender is willing to work across the portfolio as a whole rather than requiring individual valuations and legal processes for every property, which is where much of the time and cost in a multi-property refinance tends to sit.

Final Thoughts

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a loan secured against it. Buy-to-let and business-purpose lending secured against investment property is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Call: 01628 969 500
Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk

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property

BTL Remortgage with Capital Raise for a Portfolio Landlord with Adverse Credit and a Previous Repossession

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The Client An employed landlord with a portfolio of mortgaged investment properties. Her income combined salary with rental income from the portfolio. She’d had difficulties with tenants on some properties […]

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The Client

An employed landlord with a portfolio of mortgaged investment properties. Her income combined salary with rental income from the portfolio. She’d had difficulties with tenants on some properties in the past, including one property that had been repossessed by the lender after rent arrears, with the balance of that debt still in dispute.

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The Objective

She wanted to remortgage one of the Buy to Let properties in her portfolio, releasing extra capital and moving onto a cheaper rate that would bring her monthly outgoing down, all while an earlier repossession sat on her credit file.

The Situation

On paper this looks like a routine remortgage. It wasn’t, because of what had happened with one of her other properties. A repossession, especially with a balance still being disputed, tends to be enough on its own to shut down an application before a lender looks any further.

The Challenge

Raising capital and cutting the rate on the same application meant taking on a larger loan, which needed a lender comfortable lending more against the property despite the credit history, not less.

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What We Did

We went through our specialist Buy to Let panel checking each lender’s specific criteria for adverse credit against the case before submitting anywhere, to find one genuinely able to accommodate both the adverse credit and the previous repossession.

The Solution

We placed the case with a specialist lender willing to look past the credit history. The result covered everything the client wanted: capital raised, a lower rate secured, and a reduced monthly payment, even with the loan size increased to release the capital.

The Outcome

Everything the client set out to achieve came through in one transaction: capital released, a better rate locked in, and monthly payments down, and this against a credit background that would have stopped most lenders before they got past the first page of the application.

Conclusion

A repossession on the file makes most people assume remortgaging is simply not available to them anymore. That’s true of the mainstream lenders, largely. It isn’t true of the market as a whole. Working a specialist panel meant finding a lender who looked at the full picture of this buy to let case rather than stopping at the credit history and declining on that alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I remortgage a Buy to Let property with a previous repossession on my credit file?

It’s more difficult, but not automatically ruled out. Specialist lenders exist who will assess the wider case rather than declining on a repossession alone, particularly where the circumstances behind it can be explained.

Can I raise capital and reduce my rate on the same remortgage?

Yes – it’s one of the more common reasons landlords remortgage in the first place. Because releasing capital means taking on more borrowing, the lender needs to be comfortable with that larger loan, which becomes a bigger factor when adverse credit is already part of the case.

Does a disputed debt balance affect a mortgage application?

It can, since lenders will typically want to understand the full picture around any outstanding balance, disputed or not. Being upfront about the dispute and its status generally helps rather than hinders the application.

Why would a specialist lender take on a case a mainstream lender wouldn't?

Specialist lenders often build their underwriting specifically around adverse credit and complex cases. They assess affordability and the wider circumstances rather than applying an automatic decline for a past credit event.

Final Thoughts

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a loan secured against it. Buy-to-let and business-purpose lending secured against investment property is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Call: 01628 969 500
Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk

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residential

Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor Mortgage for a Mother and Daughter Moving Closer Together in Later Life

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The Client A mother and daughter applying jointly. The mother had recently sold her property and wanted to buy somewhere new as her main residence. The daughter lived with her […]

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The Client

A mother and daughter applying jointly. The mother had recently sold her property and wanted to buy somewhere new as her main residence. The daughter lived with her partner some distance away, and the plan was for the mother to relocate closer to her daughter’s home.

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The Objective

Buying somewhere close to her daughter’s home meant the mother would move, while the daughter carried on living exactly as she was, with her partner, in her own household. The application needed the daughter’s backing without pulling her own arrangement into it.

The Situation

A suitable property turned up close to where the daughter lives. The proceeds from the mother’s previous sale weren’t quite enough to buy it outright, leaving a £90,000 shortfall to fund through a mortgage.

The Challenge

Raising that £90,000 on the mother’s own income and age proved difficult. Standard affordability and maximum lending age rules at most lenders weren’t going to stretch far enough to make the numbers work for her alone.

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What We Did

We put forward a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage. Both names went on the borrowing and both carried responsibility for the payments, but ownership of the property sat with the mother alone. That let the daughter add her income to the case while her own home life carried on exactly as before.

The Solution

The lender was prepared to lend against the mother up to age 99, and looked at the daughter’s bank statements to confirm she wasn’t paying toward her partner’s household costs, which settled the affordability question. Before anything went ahead, the daughter took her own legal advice to make sure her position in the arrangement was properly understood.

The Outcome

The mortgage completed without complications. The mother is now settled in her new home, living close to her daughter as planned.

Conclusion

Most lenders draw the maximum-age line well before it stops being sensible for the client, and that’s what turns an otherwise workable case into one the numbers won’t support. As a whole-of-market broker, a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor structure gave us a way through the age and affordability problem, without either party having to change how they were actually living.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage?

It’s a mortgage where more than one person is named as a borrower and shares responsibility for the payments, but only one of them is registered as the legal owner of the property. It’s commonly used when family members want to support each other financially without becoming joint owners.

Can a lender go up to age 99 on a mortgage?

Some will, particularly on a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor case where more than one income supports the affordability figure. Maximum age policies vary a good deal from lender to lender, so it’s really a question of matching the case to the right one.

Does the second borrower need to live in the property?

No. In a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor arrangement, the second borrower is often supporting the application financially without living in or owning the property themselves, as was the case here.

Should the non-owning borrower get independent legal advice?

It’s strongly recommended. Because the non-owning borrower is financially responsible for the mortgage without holding legal ownership, independent legal advice helps make sure their interests are properly understood and protected before the mortgage completes.

Final Thoughts

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Call: 01628 969 500
Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk

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HNWIs

Residential Remortgage During Divorce for a Self-Employed Client with a Mixed-Use Title

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The Client Our client was remortgaging the marital home as part of divorce proceedings. During the divorce he was renting privately, with the plan that once the remortgage completed, the […]

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The Client

Our client was remortgaging the marital home as part of divorce proceedings. During the divorce he was renting privately, with the plan that once the remortgage completed, the property would become his main residence and his ex-wife would move out. The court had set a timeline requiring the mortgage offer to be in place, and he was self-employed with income over the last 12 months that was failing affordability with most lenders.

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The Objective

To secure a mortgage offer quickly enough to meet the court’s timeline, keeping the marital home as his sole residence once the divorce settled, despite self-employed income that wasn’t clearing standard affordability checks.

The Situation

Assessing the application, we found the land attached to the property included some commercial elements, which narrowed the pool of lenders willing to consider it on residential terms. Splitting the title to separate the commercial and residential parts properly would normally have been the tidy solution, but the divorce timeline didn’t allow time to wait for that.

The Challenge

Two problems needed solving at once. The mixed-use title ruled out most residential lenders before affordability even came into it, and the client’s most recent 12 months of self-employed income wasn’t going to pass a standard assessment on its own.

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What We Did

We identified a lender willing to assess the application on residential terms despite the commercial element in the title, and prepared to work from projected income figures rather than the historic year that was falling short. The client’s accountant completed an Accountant’s Certificate explaining the projected income increase.

The Solution

The lender accepted the case on residential terms and worked from the projected figures rather than the historic ones. A first mortgage completed, giving the client the breathing room to split the title properly and remortgage onto better terms once the divorce settlement and this first charge had both been finalised.

The Outcome

The remortgage completed within the court’s timeline, and the client kept the marital home. The path was set for him to tidy up the title split and refinance on standard terms once his circumstances had settled.

Conclusion

Divorce proceedings are stressful enough without a mortgage timeline running against a court deadline, self-employed income that won’t pass standard checks, and a property title that doesn’t fit neatly into either residential or commercial. As a whole-of-market broker, we could bring all three problems to a single lender rather than solving each one separately, which is what made the deadline achievable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I remortgage during divorce proceedings before the divorce is finalised?

Yes, and it’s often necessary where a court has set a timeline for a mortgage offer to be in place. Lenders can and do assess these cases before a divorce settlement is finalised, provided the case is presented clearly.

Can self-employed income projections be used if my last 12 months doesn't meet affordability?

Some lenders will work from projected income rather than historic figures alone. This typically needs an Accountant’s Certificate explaining why the projected figure is higher than the previous year’s results.

Does a property with a commercial element affect a residential remortgage?

It can narrow the lender pool significantly. Some lenders will still assess the case on residential terms even with a commercial element present, particularly where splitting the title isn’t immediately practical.

Can I split a mixed-use title after completing a mortgage?

Often, yes, once time and circumstances allow. Completing a first mortgage on the combined title can buy the time needed to arrange a proper title split and refinance onto standard terms afterwards.

Final Thoughts

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Call: 01628 969 500
Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk

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Mortgage Broker UK

Multiple-Contract Mortgage for a Contractor After an 8-Week Underwriting Stall

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The Client A contractor working across multiple contracts simultaneously, with good credit. Multiple income streams tend to complicate underwriting and cut down which lenders are worth approaching, but the client […]

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The Client

A contractor working across multiple contracts simultaneously, with good credit. Multiple income streams tend to complicate underwriting and cut down which lenders are worth approaching, but the client was looking to buy a residential property.

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The Objective

To secure a mortgage that properly accounted for income from more than one contract, rather than a lender assessing him on a single contract alone and understating what he could actually afford.

The Situation

Some lenders advertise that they’ll consider multiple contracts, but in practice underwriters often balk once they see the combined hours involved, even where the work itself isn’t physically demanding. The same lenders will happily count overtime for an employed applicant working comparable hours on a single contract with extra hours on top – inconsistent treatment that turns up repeatedly in sectors like healthcare.

The Challenge

The client’s initial application ran well past the lender’s advertised 10-day turnaround, and after eight weeks in underwriting, the lender said it would only count the main contract. Their reasoning was that working 40 hours on the primary contract plus 20 on a retainer wasn’t feasible, despite the client already managing exactly that.

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What We Did

Rather than continue with a lender applying that kind of blanket judgement, we moved the case to a specialist contractor lender that takes a more sensible view of contractor income, willing to consider up to three separate income sources where the case supports it.

The Solution

The new lender assessed both contracts together, using a day rate multiple on the more conservative side (day rate x 5 x 41, rather than the 46 some lenders use), but the resulting income figure still worked comfortably in the client’s favour.

The Outcome

The application went through with both contracts properly accounted for, after the original application had stalled for eight weeks over a lender’s refusal to count anything beyond the primary contract.

Conclusion

Contractor income assessment varies a lot more than most applicants expect, and not every lender that claims to consider multiple contracts actually follows through once underwriting starts. Most high street lenders treat contractors as self-employed unless IR35 status says otherwise, and the income multiple used, day rate direct or a multiple of it, makes a real difference to what’s achievable. As a whole-of-market broker, getting the right lender matched to the client’s actual working pattern from the outset avoided months of a case going nowhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a mortgage with income from multiple contracts?

Yes, though not every lender that advertises this will follow through once underwriting looks closely at the combined hours. Some lenders will consider up to three separate income sources, provided the case is presented clearly from the start.

How do lenders calculate contractor income for a mortgage?

Approaches vary. Some use the day rate directly if it’s over a certain threshold, others apply a multiple of the day rate, commonly day rate x 5 x a working-weeks figure that differs by lender. The multiple used can significantly change what a contractor can borrow.

Why would a lender decline to count a second contract even after initially agreeing to consider it?

It usually comes down to the underwriter’s comfort with the combined working hours, even where the work itself isn’t physically demanding. This inconsistency is common and is one of the reasons lender selection matters so much for contractor applications.

Are contractors treated the same as self-employed applicants by mortgage lenders?

Mostly, yes, unless the contractor falls under IR35, which changes how some lenders assess the income. Most high street lenders default to treating contractors as self-employed regardless of the underlying contract structure.

Final Thoughts

UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

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Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk

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