Self-employed home loans
Running your own business and buying a home?
Lenders assess self-employed income differently from a salary. Most banks want two years of financial statements and tax returns and often use an average, while some lenders accept a shorter history or other evidence. How your accounts present your income can make a real difference to what you can borrow.
Who it suits
- Sole traders and contractors
- Company owners paying themselves a salary or dividends
- Partners in a firm
- New businesses with a short track record
What lenders look at
- Financial statements and tax returns, usually for two years
- Whether income is steady or rising
- Add-backs such as depreciation and one-off costs
- Whether your tax is up to date with Inland Revenue
What to prepare
Tick them off as you go.
Questions to ask
- Which years of income will be used?
- Can depreciation and one-off costs be added back?
- Will a non-bank lender accept a shorter trading history?
- What if my latest year's income dropped?
Everyone's situation is different. Lenders weigh things differently and small details change the answer. An adviser can tell you where you stand with self-employed home loans and what to do next.
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Calculators for this
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Guides
Self-employed? How lenders read your income
Banks usually want two years of financial statements and tax returns, and many use an average of the two. If your latest year was stronger, some…
Read the guideBorrowing · 1 min readHow lenders work out how much you can borrow
Lenders start with your income, take off tax, living costs and the repayments on any other debts, and see what's left. Then they work out the largest…
Read the guideEvery situation is different
Tell us what you're planning and an adviser will work through your options with you.