Published 12 November 2017 · Last reviewed 1 May 2026

I am Recently self-employed  can I obtain a mortgage as I dont have my accounts filed yet?

The high street mortgage standard for Recently Self Employed Mortgage applicants is a minimum of 2 to 3 years trading. There are a growing breed of centralised Mortgage Lenders that will accept 1 year’s trading typically at a slightly higher interest rate.

It starts to gets tricky though if you are unable to provide 1 year’s accounts or HMRC Tax Calculations. The Mortgage Lenders will normally require the following before they would entertain lending:

• Last 3 months’ bank statements showing income being credited.
• An understanding of the contracts you have in place to supply regular pay.
• A suitably qualified accountant to provide an accurate projection the financial year end.
• The nature of the occupation to be held in good regard.
• Look closely at the track record and prior experience you have in the sector.

RECENTLY SELF EMPLOYED MORTGAGE EXAMPLE A:

An employee was working in a Retail Outlet selling clothes but for the last 8 months has been a self-employed mini-cab worker, the answer would probably be ‘no’. There is a change of occupation and the new job is largely cash-in-hand.

RECENTLY SELF EMPLOYED MORTGAGE EXAMPLE B:

IT employee working for a large UK bank for 3 years. He has decided that if he set up his own limited company, he would continue to work at the same bank, and charge more. After a few months then the answer could be ‘yes’ to a mortgage. The job is constant and being a contractor is common to the sector.

So is all lost for EXAMPLE A? Well not quite. It depends on what they are trying to achieve, read on.

• Product Transfer If they have a mortgage and are looking to purely swap it to a better rate then we could potentially help.
• Capital Raising. If they already have a mortgage on their property then there are a number of Second Charge Mortgage Lenders will consider lending after 6 months trading.
• Buying a new home to live in. To use their income they will need to wait until either they have 1 year’s accounts or HMRC tax calculation. However, we may be able to solely use the income of joint applicant (in some instances we can get up to 6 times income as a mortgage).
• Buying a new property to let. There are a few Buy-to-let Mortgage Lenders that have no minimum self-employed trading period or income requirement, provided the expected rental income is sufficient to service the mortgage and cover void periods.