Self Employed Remortgages

Whether you are looking to remortgage to secure a new fixed rate, raise money, or something else we’re here to help. Our self employed remortgage advice team are very experienced in helping clients in all remortgage situations.

Usually, the main reasons why our self employed clients seek advice is to remortgage for a new fixed rate deal, to remortgage to raise money for home improvements, to remortgage to consolidate debts, or something a little quirkier such as to remortgage to remove a name from a mortgage.

If you are over the age of 50 and are looking at your remortgage options, there will be options available for you also.

If you have enough equity available, when you remortgage, you may have the option to release equity to fund home improvements etc. You’ll also be able to look at extending or shortening your mortgage term if required.

An alternative to a self employed remortgage is a product transfer mortgage, this is where your existing lender offers you a new deal to stay with them. No documents are usually required for a product transfer mortgage, therefore, if you’re struggling to prove your income or newly self employed these can work well until you have your documents in order.

Your mortgage broker will help you consider this deal and compare it to what you can get elsewhere with a view to save you money.

Most of our customers prefer a fixed rate mortgage deal to ensure that they know how much their mortgage is going to cost for either 2, 3, or 5 years for peace of mind.  Fixed rate mortgages are available like all mortgage deals for self employed applicants.

How long you decide to fix for will depend on your future objectives with the property and your attitude towards risk and interest rates.

Other variable mortgage deals are available also which can change when interest rates increase or decrease.

Offset mortgages work well if you’re a regular saver and like the option of more flexibility with your mortgage.   Typically, the costs to operate an offset mortgages are more than with a regular fixed rate product due to the additional administration involved, however, for the right individual, the interest savings can be huge by utilising the savings account.

With an offset mortgage, your mortgage amount will be offset by any funds you have in your savings account that runs in conjunction with your mortgage.

For example, if you owed £100k on your mortgage but you have £20k in your connected savings account, you’ll only pay interest on £80k meaning more of your monthly payment will be going off the capital amount.

For an avid self employed saver, an offset mortgage account can save a lot of money.   Maybe you save regularly for your personal tax bill or simply for a rainy day, either way is fine.  The balance can keep increasing or decreasing as you save or spend the money.

Self employed mortgages are available in both joint and sole names.  Whether your partner is self employed or employed that’s fine if you can provide proof of income to support your application.

With a joint mortgage, during the legal process you’ll have the option to buy tenants in common or joint tenancy, your conveyancer will run through these options with you in more detail.

Bad credit self employed mortgages are available, including mortgages for people with CCJs, missed payments and adverse credit.

A good place to start with your bad credit mortgage options would be to get an up-to-date copy of your credit file showing details of your bad credit such as amounts, dates and whether it’s now settled.

With any bad credit, your mortgage lender will be interested to know the exact dates it started/happened, the amounts it was for, and whether it’s now cleared. It’s all about meeting stringent criteria of the new mortgage company.

From looking at your credit report, your mortgage advisor will be able to recommend the best way forward for you. The good news is that we work with both high street and more specialist lenders to find you the best deal.

Self employed applicants can qualify for a further advance mortgage too! A further advance mortgage is used to release equity from your property as an add on to your existing mortgage.

Typically, this new lending will be on different terms to your original mortgage amount and will have a different interest rate and end date.

With further advance mortgages for the self employed, it’s new application therefore documents including proof of income is required.

You might consider a further advance mortgage if you’re in the middle of a fixed rate deal and would like to release some money to pay for home improvements for example. An alternative to this would be a remortgage for home improvements with a new lender, however, if you’re in a fixed deal early redemption charge could apply from switching.

If you are self-employed and looking for a further advance mortgage, other options your mortgage broker will consider with you are secured loans and a remortgage.

For self employed applicants, getting a mortgage can be trickier therefore if you are looking to move home, it’s always best to plan early ahead of putting yours up for sale.

If you are in the middle of a fixed rate deal, your mortgage broker will consider your porting options that are available with your current lender and compare these to what deals are available elsewhere.

Maybe you are looking to move for work, into a bigger or smaller home, or to be close to schools. Whatever your drive, we’re here to help you with all your self employed mortgage options.

With all self employed mortgage applications, you’ll need to evidence your income as discussed further on this page.

Self employed Interest only mortgages are a brilliant solution for the right applicant. Unlike traditional repayment, with an interest only mortgage deal your monthly payment will consist solely of interest. Therefore, at the end of the mortgage term, you’ll be required to pay your existing loan back as a single lump sum.

For the self employed, interest-only mortgages can work well if you have a repayment plan in place that you can evidence to the lender.

Examples of a repayment plan include the sale of an investment property or by using your pension tax-free lump sum.

With self employed interest-only mortgages, options such as fixed rate interest periods and overpayments will be available to you. Your mortgage broker will be able to run through these with you as options do vary depending on which lender we’d recommend for your personal situation.

A self employed interest only mortgage customer is typically a large earner, has a large deposit, and has a repayment plan in place from the outset. Often, they also make investment such as in pensions, stock investments, or buy to let property.

If you are over the age of 55, other retirement interest only mortgages may be suitable for you, so it is important that any alternatives are considered as part of the mortgage advice process.

For the self employed, investing in buy to let property can be an attractive proposition to supplement income either now or in retirement.

Whether you are a self employed first-time landlord or experienced property investor we’ll have mortgage options for you.

• Buy to let limited company mortgages for the self employed.
• Personal names buy to let mortgages for the self employed.

With a self employed buy to let mortgage application, you’ll need to evidence your income and put a good-sized deposit down on the property, typically a minimum of 20/25% is required depending on the lender.

The rental income that you’ll receive from the property will also be considered when calculating how much you can borrow along with your income, outgoings, and credit score.

Getting a self-employed buy to let mortgage is more complicated and trickier than getting a residential mortgage due to additional checks and tighter lending scores that are involved.

Here at UK Moneyman, we have a specialist buy to let mortgage broker team who are available 7 days a week to answer all your questions and help you with your application. It’s also good to work alongside your accountant so they can ensure that you’re operating in the most tax-efficient way for your personal situation.

We understand that for the self employed income is not always stable for one reason or another, so the use of personal loans and credit cards is more likely.

Clients can often become stuck between and rock and a hard place when their credit card balances don’t seem to decrease, and they’re just stuck paying the minimum payments.

Self employed debt consolidation mortgage options are available providing you have enough equity in your property and meet criteria and affordability checks.

A debt consolidation mortgage is not without risk and professional advice should be sought to avoid putting yourself in a worse financial situation. As you are taking unsecured credit and securing this against your home, if you fail to meet your mortgage payments your home may be repossessed.

Our mortgage broker team are highly experienced with dealing with debt-consolidation mortgages for the self employed and can help answer your questions and explore your options.

If you have owned your property for a few years now you will most probably have built up some equity. Often, our self employed clients look to do a capital raising remortgage to unlock some money to pay for home improvements, a large purpose or to repay debts.

If you are considering your self employed capital raising mortgage options, a good place to start would be to look online on property websites such as Rightmove and Zoopla to find out what properties like yours are selling for in your area. This figure will be a good starting point for a valuation.

The second thing to do it to find a recent mortgage statement to see how much you currently owe, how many years you have left, and whether there are any early redemption charges that apply if you were to switch.

If you are in the middle of a fixed rate deal and there are alternative products such as a further advance mortgage or a secured loan we can consider.

If you’re not tied in and there are no early redemption charges, you’ll be free to remortgage and look at increasing your borrowing.

If you are newly self employed, or your income has been more unstable since you took out your existing mortgage you might find it harder to get accepted for a mortgage now. It’s always best to have a specialist self employed mortgage broker specialist on your side to help you navigate the maze of lending criteria.

For a self employed applicant, a secured loan, often called a second charge mortgage can be a great lending solution.

Often, self employed clients are mid-way through a fixed rate deal, or they’ve been declined a further advance or remortgage elsewhere consider a secured loan for one reason or another. For a self employed applicant, this might be due to unstable income or being new to self employment.

Secured loans are typically higher interest rates than regular mortgages due to the additional risk taken on by the lender however, they can be more flexible to obtain.

A self employed secured loan can be used for home improvements, paying off debts, investing in buy to let property, or something else.

Alternatives to secured loans for the self employed are remortgages, further advances and bridging finance.

If you are retired or close to retirement there are a range self employed mortgage products available to you. Which product type is most suitable will depend on your age, your income, your affordability, and your plans for the property.

Often, self employed clients can be semi-retired and are looking for ways to move home, remortgage to pay off an existing mortgage deal that is ending soon, supplement their income, pay off debts, or release capital to fund home improvements.

There are various products available to our older self employed clients including:

• Regular mortgages until age 80 to 85 on a repayment or interest-only basis.
• Bridging finance to fund a home move.
• Retirement interest only mortgages (RIOs) from age 55.
• Equity release mortgages from age 55 including lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans.

We have a specialist later life team here at UK Moneyman to help you consider all the pros and cons of each self employed retirement mortgage that are available and recommend the best way forward for you.