Payam
Azadi
Co-founder and Director, Niche Advice Limited
I co-founded Niche Advice in 2008 with Richard Stokes and have advised on mortgages and specialist property finance ever since. Whether you are a first-time buyer, a next-time buyer, a sophisticated landlord or a commercial property investor, the experience is cumulative — eighteen years of clients, many of whom come back: a remortgage, a second property, a child’s first flat, and the harder moments too, from divorce to inherited property.
After graduating with a BA (Hons) I worked as a designer, a web developer and in a range of marketing roles, before joining one of the UK’s largest mortgage networks as Marketing Director.
Niche Advice Limited is a mortgage and credit broker, not a lender. FCA firm reference 750263.
A route into mortgages from the inside out.
Most people who end up broking mortgages came into it from banking or estate agency. I came into it from the other side — from design, and then from mortgage technology.
Network Data Limited
My career started as an internal graphic designer, moving through PR and marketing. That period put me inside mortgage data and mortgage systems — the kind of software a broker sits in front of to work out which lender will actually take a case.
The Mortgage Times Group
A business that grew into one of the UK’s largest mortgage networks. I owned marketing, PR and advertising, managed the corporate relationships, and organised more than 200 nationwide roadshow events for mortgage intermediaries. I met Richard Stokes there.
Niche Advice is established
Richard had spent his time with lenders and products; I had spent mine with brokers, technology and communication. We still split the firm the same way — Richard leads compliance and operations; I lead sales, marketing and technology. We are equal partners and we both advise clients directly.
Niche Funding Limited
Also a director of Niche Funding Limited until 2017, arranging commercial and bridging finance for professional landlords and property owners. That is where a great deal of my short-term finance experience was built.
Where the criteria get complicated.
People do not usually come to me first. They come after a bank has said no, or after a broker has told them their case is too complicated.
Self-employed, contractors and limited-company directors
An automated affordability calculator reads one year of accounts, retained profit, or a day rate and can return a number that bears little relation to what you actually earn. In my experience the lenders who read those structures properly are a minority, and each reads them differently.
Self-employed mortgages ↗
Several brokers insisted on SA302s and refused to proceed, even after we explained our circumstances. They understood our unique income structure and worked around the SA302 issue with expertise, persistence, and integrity.Esther and Victor · February 2026
Foreign nationals and visa holders
Skilled Worker, Spouse, Dependant, Health and Care, Graduate, and applicants whose residency is still being settled. The panel that will genuinely consider these cases is narrow and the criteria move.
Mortgages for foreign nationals ↗He really understood my situation, particularly due to my immigration status in the UK. I received confirmation from the lender in less than two weeks.Mohammad · April 2025
Bridging and short-term finance
Auction purchases, chain breaks, probate, refurbishment and HMO conversion. Bridging is where I am asked the most and where I say no the most, because a bridge is only ever as good as its exit.
Bridging loan calculator ↗If you cannot tell me how the loan gets repaid, the deal does not exist yet.Payam Azadi
Buy-to-let, HMO and portfolio landlords
First-time landlords through to large portfolios, personal name versus limited company or SPV.
Buy-to-let mortgages ↗Their extensive knowledge in both residential and BTL products is evident throughout their interactions.Michael Williams · September 2025
Adverse credit and declined cases
CCJs, defaults, IVAs, discharged bankruptcy, and recovering a case after a decline. A decline is information — it tells you which rule you hit.
Bad-credit mortgages ↗He gave us hope when we had none and truly made it happen.Isobel & Yanki · July 2025
Complex cases generally
Unusual property types, layered income, awkward timing. Not everything we do is exotic — a large part of the work is ordinary residential and remortgage business.
Talk through a case ↗Niche advisors made the impossible possible. A complicated case like mine which I had very little hope in achieving a mortgage for.Hemen · June 2025
Director Income Mortgage Calculator
If you are a limited company director paid in salary and dividends, this shows how differently lenders read the same set of accounts.
Bridging Loan Calculator
Model a short-term finance scenario — loan, value, security, exit and interest treatment — before you speak to anyone.
The answer is not always “borrow”.
I get calls from people who have watched a lot of videos and decided short-term finance will make them money. Sometimes they are right. Frequently the numbers do not survive contact with the fees, or the exit is a hope rather than a plan. Telling somebody that costs me the case.
“I would rather lose the enquiry than put someone into the wrong product.”
“My job is to take you through the downside as well as the upside, so you can decide with both in front of you.”
Payam Azadi
Complex, explained plainly.
Dumitru · February 2026“Exceptional service from start to finish. Niche Advice are highly knowledgeable, thorough, and genuinely invested in finding the best solution rather than pushing a generic option.”
“Complex matters explained in a way that was easy to understand.”
“Their attention to detail and strategic advice made a real difference. I would confidently recommend Niche Advice to anyone looking for expert, trustworthy advice.”
You don’t have to take my word for it.
The strongest thing I can offer a stranger deciding whether to trust me with a mortgage is a large body of work they can inspect before they ever pick up the phone.
It is not a highlight reel. It is years of working through the questions clients actually ask: buy-to-let structure and limited companies, remortgaging, bad credit, bridging dangers, auction finance, visa and expat criteria, what documents a lender will want, and what a decline actually means. Some of it is uncomfortable — several of the most-watched are essentially me explaining why a plan will not work.
Foreign National Mortgages: Tier 1, Tier 2 and Other Visas
Mortgage Deposit Rules for Home Buyers
Which UK Bank Offers the Maximum Affordability45 lenders compared
Redundancy and New JobsHow a change of job is assessed
Remortgage to Pay a Tax BillCommon problems
Auction Finance in 56 DaysModern method of auction
Verify the firm.
Niche Advice Limited (FCA number 750263) was established in 2008 and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a mortgage and credit broker, not a lender.
Payam is recorded on the FCA Register in his own right — reference PXA01415, an Approved Person holding SMF3 Executive Director and Responsibility for MCD Intermediation.
Tell me what you are trying to do.
Give me the outline of the case and roughly when you need it done. I will tell you honestly whether I think it works, what it is likely to cost, and what could get in the way — before anything is submitted anywhere.
020 7993 2044 · [email protected]
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