Plenty of well-paid people are difficult to lend to on paper. A day rate, a bonus that dwarfs the salary, three years of company accounts with profit retained, or income from four sources rather than one. The money is real, and the standard affordability calculator cannot read it.
This is the part of the market where choosing the right lender first is the whole job.
Most lenders want two years of accounts or tax calculations, and some will consider one. What differs sharply is which figure they use. Salary and dividends, share of net profit, or an average of the last two years all produce different outcomes, and a director who leaves profit in the business is frequently offered far less than the business could support.
We work from your accounts and your accountant’s figures, and we approach the lenders whose rules read them in your favour.
A number of lenders will annualise a day rate rather than asking for accounts, typically multiplying by five days and forty-eight weeks. That treatment usually produces a much larger figure than a set of accounts would. It depends on contract length, time in the role and the sector, and it is not offered by everyone.
Lenders take anything from nil to one hundred percent of variable pay, and some average the last two years while others use the most recent. Second jobs, rental income, pension income, maintenance payments and trust income are all treated inconsistently. The differences are large enough to change what you can buy.
Defaults, a missed payment on a phone contract, a period of arrears during an illness, or an old arrangement that was settled years ago. Lenders differ enormously in how they weigh these, and how recent they are usually matters more than the amount.
Bring us the paperwork rather than the summary. We would rather see the file and tell you plainly whether now is the moment, or whether six months of clean conduct makes the difference.
The more complicated your income, the more a first conversation is worth. It is free and carries no obligation.
