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Self Cert Mortgage
If you need a mortgage or remortgage but are struggling to provide satisfactory proof of income for mortgage purposes than a self cert mortgage could help. Self cert mortgages are also known as self certification mortgages and no poof of income mortgages. The term 'no proof of income' 
isn't quite true, whilst the lender will not require you to prove the actual amounts of income you earn they will require some proof that an income is being generated (for example, proof that you are self employed)
How does a self cert mortgage work?
A self cert mortgage works by allowing you to certify that your income is as stated on a mortgage application form without actually providing proof of income. You will be asked to provide proof that an income is being earned (such as an Inland Revenue SA302 for the self employed)
Who is a self cert mortgage for?
A self cert mortgage is aimed at anyone who can not provide satisfactory proof of income for a mortgage lender. A lender will typically want at least 12 months certified accounts if you are self employed or a number of printed wage slips if you are employed - if you're unable to provide what the lender would normally require then a self cert mortgage may be right for you.
Are self cert mortgage's more expensive?
Typically the mortgage will have a loading over and above the same mortgage where proof of income can be provided, the loading will depend on the lender but generally it will be 0.25% or 0.5% higher than normal, this represents the additional risk by the lender where self cert mortgages are concerned.
Things you should know about self cert mortgages
Many people think self cert mortgages mean that absolutely no proof of income will be required, whilst in part that is true, the lender will want some proof that an income is being generated. Whilst the information required varies from lender to lender, we have included a brief guide below.
Self Employed with an accountant -
If you have an accountant but can not provide accounts (maybe you have not been trading for 12 months) the lender can simply send your accountant a self cert reference, as long as the accountant is certified this should suffice. If you have an accountant but they are not certified then you would normally follow the requirements for self assessment.
Self Assessment -
You will generally be asked to provide proof that you are actually self employed, this is generally just providing the lender a letter addressed to yourself from the inland revenue. Certain self cert mortgage lenders may require you to provide other things such as a business card, an SA302 form which is what you get back from the inland revenue after you have submitted your self assessment forms or proof of business advertisement, again this will be dependent on the mortgage lender - brokers will generally have access to all the self cert mortgage lenders available.
Self Cert Contract -
If you are on contract then its very similar to self assessment mentioned above, you will simply need to provide proof that you are on contract (such as the contract itself) and possibly a letter from the inland revenue for self cert purposes.
Employed -
It is very unlikely that an employed person will need to self cert their income, however this can sometimes happen though and in these circumstances the lender will send the employer a self cert reference for them to return (as proof that you actually work for that employer).
Self Cert Income from various sources -
If you have income from various sources, it is often the case that the income proof for one source may be sufficient for the lender whilst the income from another source may not. You can not part self cert a mortgage, a mortgage application is either self cert or it is not, with that in mind if you are able to provide satisfactory proof of income on part of your income the chances are you will need to self cert all of your income.
please note:
A self cert mortgage is not intended to speed up the mortgage process or to allow people to over inflate their income for mortgage purposes.
The key thing to remember with self cert mortgages is that, whilst you may be able to provide proof of earnings, the proof of earnings you are able to provide needs to be acceptable to the lender (such as 1 to 3 years certified accounts), if the lender will not accept your proof of income then its likely a self cert mortgage could be the answer.
I have bad credit, can I still apply for a self cert mortgage?
Absolutely, there are many products which will allow self cert mortgage applications to proceed whilst allowing adverse credit to be registered on your credit file.
Simply complete the form to the right or telephone 0845 094 2331
