Mr and Mrs P’s family had recently grown and they needed to move into a larger house. Mr P was self-employed and had a few more hurdles to jump when it came to securing a mortgage, so they needed a considerate lender with a bespoke underwriting process.

When it comes to small self-employed businesses, it is quite common to see retained profits within the accounts. It has business benefits that allow for growth and stability but in the mortgage market having a smaller income can be detrimental, regardless of the profits being retained within the business.

Mrs P was employed full-time and could cover the majority of the household costs, so Mr P was only drawing a minimal salary from the business to top up their household income. As they were looking to upsize, the majority of lenders would only consider Mrs P’s employed income and Mr P’s minimal salary and dividends which would have deemed the mortgage unaffordable.

We thought outside the box and sourced a lender that would look at the retained profits in the business, rather than salary and dividends. This still didn’t evidence quite enough for Mr P & Mrs P to borrow the full required amount however we worked with the lender and Mr & Mrs P’s accountant and were able to use the business’s management accounts the evidence the growing business and the clients were offered the full required amount.