Self Certification mortgages originated for self employed people whose earnings could often fluctuate or be difficult to prove via conventional methods such as pay slips or references.

The figures shown on their accounts may differ from their actual earnings due to the way their accountant treats their earnings and expenditure for tax purposes.

A self certified mortgage allows the client to declare their true level of income from all sources,  but is not subject to any verification from the lender.

More recently,  some lenders have started to offer self certification for employed clients too.  Examples of where this could be used are for people with a guaranteed basic salary but variable amounts of commission, bonus or overtime.  Additionally,  this may be suitable for clients with small basic salaries, topped up with additional payments such as working family tax credits, child tax credit, child benefit, disability benefits or maintenance.

You’ll need at least 10% deposit to qualify for this type of mortgage and usually 15%.   The amount of income you declare will need to be evidenced to us in the form of payslips, tax credit or benefit notifications or bank statements, but no verification is required by the lender and they will allow you to include all of your income from all sources.   The declared income is still subject to the lenders standard income multiples and so you shouldn’t view this as a way of borrowing more than you would normally be offered.