Free mortgage advice for the self employed.
A complimentary 30-minute call with Jonathan to ask questions, review your plans and ensure you’re mortgage (or re-mortgage) ready.
We’ve got your best interest at heart.
If you’re self-employed, a contractor, or a company director, getting a mortgage can feel harder than it needs to be.
Payslips don’t tell the full story.
Dividends fluctuate.
Tax planning and pension contributions can work against you on paper.
When “standard” mortgages don’t fit.
Many self-employed clients are juggling:
A combination of salary, dividends, and retained profits
Pension contributions that reduce taxable income
Tax-efficient planning that doesn’t translate well on mortgage forms
Lenders who rely on rigid criteria and automated decisions
Off-the-shelf mortgages often don’t reflect the reality of how you earn, plan, and grow.
How we help
At Sterling Southgate, we specialise in helping self-employed clients navigate complex mortgage scenarios. Most importantly, you’ll speak to a real person who understands what you’re trying to achieve, not just what fits in a box.
Understand how you’re paid and how your business operates
Factor in dividends, retained profits, and future plans
Consider how tax and pension planning affects affordability
Explain your options clearly, without jargon
Recent challenges overcome
Using retained profit to secure the property they wanted.
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The clients’ overall affordability was poor based on salary and dividends, so they were struggling to afford the property they wanted to buy.
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They had recently sold a business asset adding around £1.25m to their balance sheet and retained profits. They had no plan to buy any other business assets or draw the funds due to the personal tax liability. They had exhausted their pension contributions and desperately wanted to buy their “forever home”
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To overcome their issue of poor affordability we decided to approach our chosen lender about using some of the retained profits to “boost” their affordability.
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By working with the accountant and the lender to add comfort to all parties, we were able use their retained profit broken down over the term of their mortgage to boost their affordability and secure the property.
Remortgaging to a more favourable lender, reducing monthly payments.
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Client came to us to remortgage, the previous adviser they had been using had not been able to prove affordability to complete the remortgage and they were concerned they would lose the house, or have to settle with their existing lenders products (which weren’t attractive).
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The client's business was extremely profitable. So much so they had changed how they trade from sole trader to limited company; their accountant had employed a robust tax strategy which met the clients needs but didn’t quite show enough in salary and dividends to meet the wider markets affordability criteria.
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We identified an opportunity to use the salary and net profit, rather than salary and dividends to give the clients the income stretch they needed to approach a more favourable lender with a more suitable mortgage product for their needs.
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The client was able to remortgage away from their existing lender towards more favourable terms which meant more disposable income on a monthly basis.
Enabling access to funds to complete a property extension.
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Client needed more space for their growing family, so opted to extend their home, having gone through the rigamarole of getting planning they hit a wall when it came to funding the extension.
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They were earning money from multiple sources, some investment income, some residential and commercial property income, maintenance income, alongside PAYE income (although this was comparatively low due to their chosen lifestyle). The lender they wanted to use just did not understand their mix of income, and only chose to use parts of it towards affordability which left them short.
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We took time to understand the clients situation, get into the detail on each of these income streams and then put a case together to to meet their ambitious plans to accommodate their growing family.
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We were able to create a compelling case with our chosen lender which ended in the client having the funds to complete their extension.
Self employed with questions about your morgage?
If you’re unsure where you stand, or want to sense-check your options before making a move, we’re happy to help. No pressure. No obligation. Just clear, practical advice.
“We can't recommend Jonathan Southgate and the team enough!”
“Selling and buying houses is certainly not stress free. On top of that, navigating the world of mortgages, especially during a time of increased uncertainty with cost of living rises, interest rates and upcoming elections, is not straightforward. We used Sterling Southgate as our mortgage advisor which took away a big part of that stress and worry, giving us the right options for our current and potential future circumstances, supporting us along the house selling/buying journey.”
Sam & Alex. (June 2024)