Mortgages for Contractors

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

We can help find you an affordable contractor mortgage deal whether you are an IT professional, banker, solicitor, accountant, engineer, or oil and gas worker. Getting a mortgage as a contractor needn't be a hassle.

Speak to our contractor mortgage advisor today if you are...

• A self-employed contractor
• Employed by an umbrella company.
• A contractor 'employed' as a limited company director

With 23 years service as a contractor mortgage broker, you can be assurred we'll find the contractor mortgage providers and rates to most suitable deal to suit you.

Contractors usually work for one company at a time and are employed for specific time periods. The contract states the set hours to be worked and the pay.

When it comes to a mortgage application, if you are a limited company contractor, your accounts won’t reflect your full income. Or, if you work via an umbrella company, any payslips you do have will raise more questions than they answer when it comes to proving affordability for a mortgage.

At PKS Associates, we often come across contractors that have missed out on a mortgage on the high street because the in-branch advisers don’t understand their employment status and how they are paid. They often try to base their mortgage on what their accounts show, which will never truly reflect what they earn.

How does a contractor mortgage differ from a traditional mortgage?

In terms of the actual mortgage deal, there is absolutely no difference. The same mortgage deals available to PAYE applicants is also available for contractors. The only difference that separates the two is the underwriting process and assessment criteria.

With a standard mortgage, high street lenders and building societies will typically assess your affordability based on salary and dividends drawn. The majority of contractors operating in a tax-efficient way draw a minimum salary and restricts dividend drawings to avoid higher-rate tax.

Although this is great from a tax planning perspective, it sadly has the undesired effect of reducing what you can potentially borrow under the standard criteria used by high street lenders.

How to get a mortgage as a contractor

A contractor mortgage is based on your gross annual contract earnings. This enables you to borrow substantially more than you would if applying with trading accounts.

Get access to contractor friendly lenders

Fortunately, there are lenders who have a contractor-friendly attitude, with good deals, sympathetic lending criteria and flexibility of payments. It is possible to take out a mortgage with a small deposit, although the better deals are likely to be on offer to those who have 10% or more of the purchase price to put down.

PKS Associates can ensure that your application is put in front of key mortgage underwriters within the lending institutions who understand your unique employment status and appreciate that demand for your skills is still high. Because of this approach, we can avoid the branch networks of the mortgage providers and help remove the difficulties that contactors often face when dealing with financial institutions.

Testimonial

At the very beginning of the process I was very unsure if I could qualify for a mortgage whilst working as an IT contractor as previous attempts were unsuccessful.

Despite my uncertainty you made the whole mortgage process easier than assumed and not too stressful. I would definitely recommend your services to friends and colleagues in similar circumstances, and I will return to you for further information, advice and guidance upon my mortgage renewal. Many Thanks

S Vallipalli. Milton Keynes