Self Certification

Proving your income

This is how self cert mortgages should work, but there are still some lenders who will need you to prove your income in other ways, such as with an accountant's certificate.

This is a document signed by your accountant to say that your income is sufficient to service the loan requested. You may also be asked to produce your business bank statements for a set period so the lender can look at the gross income you have received.

Most lenders will supplement this information with credit searches.

If you are a home owner, you will be asked to supply your existing mortgage statements, and if you are renting the lender will ask for a reference from your landlord.

The self cert mortgage approach has limits - some lenders will only allow you to prove your income in this way if you want to borrow less than 75% loan to value, so you will need to put down a substantial deposit. However, some lenders may allow you borrow up to 95% on a self certification basis.

Note that some self employed borrowers who want to take out a mortgage in a hurry use a self cert mortgage as a way of speeding up the process.

Pros and cons of self cert mortgages

• Self cert mortgages give many self employed people access to finance that they could not otherwise get.
• However, these deals are seen by the lender as more risky than standard mortgages, and so they are charged at slightly higher interest rates as a result.