Precise said most lenders currently required two or three years of accounting information but following criteria changes it would now need one year of accounts or SA302 information.

No minimum trading period applies to applicants and products are available up to 85% loan-to-value (LTV).

The new criteria affects all residential mortgage products, both first and second charge.

Alan Cleary, managing director of Precise Mortgages, said: “Performance of our mortgage book coupled with evidence collated by our credit team show that the extra information being demanded from self-employed applicants is not justified.

“Self-employed Brits are growing in numbers and play a large part in the much improved employment figures the country is now enjoying.”

Elsewhere, Metro Bank has become the latest lender to cut five-year fixed rates with a new product range available from today, Wednesday 17 September.

A 60% LTV product is available at 2.99% while an 85% LTV equivalent is on offer at 3.79%.