Self-employed not confident about mortgage chances

April 30, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

Property Market

Around three quarters of self-employed people who want to purchase a home state they are not confident in their ability to get a mortgage, research has found.

The research in question is the Specialist Lending Study (SLS) published by Pepper Money. This shows there are 300,000 self-employed people in the UK who have credit issues, but think they will be financially prepared for buying by 2026. However, the research also found that levels of confidence among self-employed people that they will be accepted for a mortgage are low. The reason cited by most for this feeling was the way lenders evaluate the income of potential borrowers.

A total of 76% of them stated that being self-employed made achieving a mortgage tougher. What this shows is many with less traditional sources of income are being squeezed out due to the narrow criteria of mainstream lenders.

Another reason some self-employed people are doubtful about their chances is debt. 81% told the survey they were concerned that existing debts would reduce their odds of success. With debt on the rise in general, this is another problem that affects a lot of possible borrowers.

Talking to Mortgage Strategy, the sales director for Pepper Money, Paul Adams, said:

“That’s where specialist lenders and brokers play a vital role, helping to build a clearer picture of affordability and opening access to homeownership in financially sustainable and responsible ways.”

Most mortgage advisors with CeMAP courses would agree with this, as more of them are looking to the specialist market for clients with non-traditional incomes.