Research suggests freelancers worried about getting mortgages

November 10, 2021 by Alan

Borrowers

New research suggests that the mortgage market is particularly tough for freelance workers, with close to two thirds of them stating that they find it more difficult to get a mortgage compared with employees.

This survey for Foundation Home Loans saw 59% of freelance workers in the UK say that their form of employment makes getting a mortgage a harder and longer process. A further 51% of them told the survey that they feel that they have a smaller choice of lenders compared to salaried workers, while 60% indicated that they thought many lenders preferred not to offer loans to self-employed people.

The number of people who work as freelancers and think that this is a good period to own your own home in is lower as well, at 39%, compared with 47% for people in standard employment.

The survey does suggest that freelancers may have an exaggerated idea of how bad the market is for them though, as the percentage of them that had actually been turned down for a mortgage due to their self-employed status was just 14%.

George Gee from Foundation Home Loans said that there clearly was a gap between what freelancers believe the attitude of mortgage lenders towards them to be and the reality. However, he added that the Covid-19 pandemic had undoubtedly reduced the lending options that are available to people in self-employment.

Advisors with a CeMAP qualification can be particularly crucial to self-employed clients in helping them find a specialist mortgage loan that will allow them to buy.