Self Certification

Why Consider A Self Certification Mortgage
The answer is simple, anyone who cannot or does not wish to prove their income to a lender. Typically this is thought to be predominantly the self-employed but it is not exclusively that group. Other candidates for self-cert mortgages can include people with several part-time jobs, sales staff who make up most of their wages through commission and managers who rely heavily on yearly bonuses.

The reasons why some people may not wish to prove their income although they can afford a mortgage are many and varied but company directors who are unsalaried but take their remuneration in other tax efficient ways might be an example.

A borrower may be unaware of the requirements of a traditional mortgage until their mortgage application is turned down by a high street lender and at that point might seek the help of an approved broker who will direct them to the specialist lenders who serve this market.

The Number Of Self Employed People Is Growing
As the ranks of the self-employed continue to swell in the UK it may be that the high street lenders will feel the need to make self-cert mortgages more main-stream but until then the specialist lenders will be the best place to find a full range of mortgages for self-certification.
Although self-cert mortgages are open to anyone the rates that are on offer and the relative difficulty of finding them probably doesn’t make them an attractive option for the average borrower who can easily prove their income. For the average house buyer the choice available in the high street generally doesn’t make searching out a self-cert mortgage necessary.

Within the category of self-cert mortgages the borrower will still be able to choose to take a Capped Rate mortgage for instance and all the usual guidelines of comparing and assessing the rates and types of mortgage available apply to self-cert as to any other mortgage.