The self-employed have often received a raw deal when it comes to remortgaging, having to pay interest rates more in line with those offered to people with a poor credit history, even if the self-employed applicant has never had financial problems of any kind. All kinds of occupations fall within the self-employed category from professional, skilled trades people such as plumbers and carpenters, teachers, to freelancers and commission-based workers.
Mortgage lenders have traditionally made it quite difficult to for the self-employed to take out home loans and if they did consider a self-employed applicant for a mortgage it would generally only be on the presentation of three years audited accounts, which isn't much help if you've just started your business and are perhaps looking at remortgaging to release some equity in your property to help fund your business.
However, some mortgage lenders now offer self-certification mortgages where the applicant estimates their annual earnings instead of an employer or an accountant being used to support their claim. Generally, credit scoring is not a priority for lenders when processing such applications. However, self-certification isn't a passport to instant and vast amounts of cash. Your credit history will be checked as with any other remortgage application and most of the other processes involved in remortgaging will remain the same.
You'll find that interest rates for self-certification remortgages are slightly higher than the average standard variable rates offered by lenders. As with other remortgage applications your personal circumstances will be taken on their merits and will be reflected in the loan amount and interest rate offered to you.
