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Getting a mortgage when you’re self-employed

Verifying your income

Find out how to prepare for a self-employed mortgage application – and see how we can help you.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

What counts as self-employment when applying for a mortgage?

When you apply for a mortgage, we’ll consider you to be self-employed if you have more than a 20% share of the business from which you get your main income. You could be a sole trader, a partner or director, or a contractor who has set up a limited company. As a general rule, we’ll need to see proof of your income for the past two complete tax years.

How are self-employed mortgages different to standard mortgages?

As you might not have payslips to prove your income, we’ll need to see certain documents to help us be confident that you can afford to borrow the amount you need to buy a home. We’ve outlined those documents below as a guide – but your situation is unique, so we may ask you for more documents when you apply.

What documents do I need to apply for a self-employed mortgage?

You’ll need to provide specific documents for your most recent and the preceding complete tax year for your income.

How to apply

Use our calculators to see how much you could afford to borrow and get an Agreement in principle to see if we could lend what you need.

Agreement in Principle

Take the first step to your mortgage

Start an Agreement in Principle (AiP) online to find out quickly if you could borrow the amount you need – without affecting your credit score. 

Starting your mortgage application

Get ready to apply

Find out how to book an appointment to start your mortgage application, and see the list of documents and information you’ll need to provide.

First-time buyer guides

Start your adventure

Expert tips and guides to help you prepare as you set off on the path towards your first home.

Need some help?

Call us

You can call us on Monday to Friday from 7am to 8pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 7am to 5pm.

0333 202 7580

You can also check our full mortgage range [PDF, 317KB] to see if our other mortgages are suitable for you, download our tariff of mortgage charges [PDF, 265KB] and read our legal information.