Straight Answers On UK Mortgages
No jargon, no sales pitch. 18 guides written by our advisers on the questions clients actually ask — how much you can borrow, how lenders read self-employed income, buy-to-let stress tests and adverse credit.
How much can I borrow
How Much Can I Borrow on a Mortgage?
Most people are quoted 4.5 times income. In practice UK lenders range from roughly 4 to 5.5 times, and your outgoings, deposit and income type move the answer more than the multiple does.
Read guideHow Many Times My Salary Can I Borrow?
Income multiples in the UK run from about 4 to 5.5 times. Which end you land on depends on earnings level, profession, deposit and how clean the rest of the case is.
Read guideFirst-time buyers
Self-employed & complex income
Can I Get a Mortgage When Self-Employed?
There is no such thing as a self-employed mortgage product. You are applying for the same mortgages as everyone else — lenders simply calculate your income differently, and that is where cases are won or lost.
Read guideGetting a Mortgage With One Year of Accounts
One year of trading does not rule you out. A smaller group of lenders will lend on a single set of accounts, and the case turns on how convincingly you can show the year is representative rather than a lucky start.
Read guideHow Lenders Calculate Self-Employed Income
The same accounts can produce wildly different borrowing figures depending on which method a lender uses. Understanding the four common methods tells you which lenders to approach.
Read guideContractor Mortgages: Borrowing on a Day Rate
Contractors are often told to show three years of accounts. With the right lender, your current day rate is annualised instead, which usually produces a much larger borrowing figure.
Read guideUsing Bonus, Commission and Overtime for a Mortgage
If a large slice of your pay is variable, lender choice decides your borrowing. Some count half of your bonus, some count all of it, and the difference can be well over 100,000 of borrowing.
Read guideMortgages for Limited Company Directors
Directors who run their business tax-efficiently are routinely offered less than they should be. The fix is usually a lender that assesses retained profit rather than what you drew.
Read guideGetting a Mortgage With Multiple Income Sources
Modern incomes rarely come from one place. The problem is that most lender systems are built for one job and one salary, so cases with three or four streams need placing by hand.
Read guideBuy-to-let & investment
HMO Mortgages Explained
An HMO produces more rent than a single let and is priced and underwritten differently. Licensing, valuation basis and landlord experience are the three things that decide whether a lender will look at it.
Read guideLimited Company vs Personal Name Buy-to-Let
Company ownership wins on tax relief for most higher rate taxpayers and loses on rates and fees. The right answer depends on your tax position and what you intend to do with the profit.
Read guideRental Coverage and ICR Explained
Buy-to-let borrowing is limited by rent, not income. The interest coverage ratio and the stress rate together decide your maximum loan, and small changes in either move the figure a long way.
Read guidePortfolio Landlord Mortgages: The Four-Property Rule
At four mortgaged properties you become a portfolio landlord, and lenders start underwriting your whole portfolio rather than the property in front of them.
Read guideCredit history
Getting a Mortgage With Defaults or CCJs
Specialist lenders look at the type, size and age of each credit event rather than a score. A satisfied default from three years ago and an unsatisfied CCJ from last month are completely different cases.
Read guideGetting a Mortgage After Bankruptcy
Discharge is the starting line. Options are narrow in the first year, improve from year three, and look close to normal once six years have passed and the record has dropped off your file.
Read guideRemortgaging
Remortgage or Product Transfer: Which Is Better?
A product transfer is quick and needs almost no paperwork. A remortgage opens the whole market and usually wins on rate. The right choice depends on your circumstances more than your lender.
Read guideUnencumbered Mortgages: Borrowing Against a Mortgage-Free Home
Owning outright means you can raise finance cheaply against the property, but you are treated as a new applicant rather than an existing borrower, and the reason for raising the money matters.
Read guide