Your bank sees your payslip. We see your actual income. Fleet and the Farnborough corridor have one of the highest concentrations of contractors and limited company directors in Hampshire — we know exactly which lenders assess your income correctly.
A Fleet contractor on £500/day has an effective annual income of £115,000+. A mainstream bank will offer them a mortgage based on £40,000. Here's the difference a specialist lender makes.
Result: Can't afford a Fleet property. Told to look elsewhere or save a larger deposit.
Result: Buys a 4-bed detached in Fleet with a 10% deposit. Same contractor, same income.
Illustrative figures. Actual borrowing depends on outgoings, credit history, deposit and lender criteria. Call us for a calculation specific to your income and circumstances.
Different income structures need different lenders. We match you to the right one from the first call.
Working through a limited company or umbrella on a day or hourly rate. The most common income type in the Fleet and Farnborough market.
Running your own limited company with salary and dividends — or retaining profit in the business. Very common among Fleet's professional workforce.
Self-employed with income assessed via SA302 tax calculations. Common for tradespeople, consultants and freelancers in the Fleet area.
Recently gone self-employed or made the switch from PAYE. Fewer lender options but not impossible — the right approach matters.
The process is the same as any mortgage — the difference is in lender selection and document preparation. We handle both.
We assess your income structure — day rate, salary/dividends, net profit — and calculate your realistic borrowing figure using the lender criteria that works best for your setup. This takes about 20 minutes and costs nothing.
We identify the lenders who will use your income correctly and offer the best rate. For Fleet contractors this usually means a specialist lender rather than a high street bank — but we always compare the full market.
We tell you exactly what documents you need before we submit — accounts, SA302s, contract copy, bank statements. Preparing these properly before application avoids delays and unnecessary declines.
We submit a clean, complete application with all supporting documents. Self-employed applications occasionally take slightly longer to underwrite — typically 4 to 7 weeks to mortgage offer from submission.
Getting your documents in order before you start speeds everything up significantly. Here's exactly what to prepare.
You don't need all of these for an initial advice call. We tell you exactly what to gather once we've assessed your situation and identified the right lender.
Find out what you can borrow as a contractor or self-employed buyer in Fleet
📞 01252 111 000"I'm a day rate contractor working at QinetiQ on £550/day. My bank offered me £185,000. Fleet Mortgages found a specialist lender who used my annualised rate and we got a mortgage offer for £470,000. Same income, completely different outcome. Bought a 4-bed detached in Southwood that I wouldn't have got anywhere near otherwise."
"Been a limited company director for 6 years. Tried two high street banks — both used only my salary and got nowhere near enough. Fleet Mortgages found a lender who added back the net profit retained in the company and we borrowed £120,000 more than the bank had offered. Moved into Fleet within 3 months of first calling them."
"Self-employed electrician, sole trader, 3 years of accounts. My income had gone up significantly in year 3 and I wanted a lender who'd use the latest year rather than an average. Fleet Mortgages found exactly that — the mortgage was based on my latest SA302 and we got the Fleet property we wanted."
Most mainstream lenders require two years of accounts or SA302 tax calculations. Some lenders will consider one year, particularly if you have moved from PAYE to self-employment in the same trade. We identify the right lender based on how long you've been self-employed and how your income is structured — don't assume you need to wait for a second year before speaking to us.
Most specialist lenders require two years. Some accept one year where you have directly relevant prior employment in the same discipline. We confirm the minimum documentation requirement for your specific structure before any application.
Specialist lenders can use the most recent year only for upward-trending income rather than a two-year average. This is one of the most valuable methodology changes available for growing self-employed businesses, and can add 50,000 to 200,000 to the maximum mortgage from the same accounts.
Specialist lenders assess contractor income by annualising your day rate — typically multiplying by 46 or 48 weeks per year. For a Fleet or Farnborough contractor on £500/day, that produces an assessed income of £115,000 to £120,000. A mainstream lender using salary and dividends might assess the same contractor at £30,000 to £50,000. The difference in borrowing is enormous — and this is exactly why lender selection matters so much for contractors.
Yes. The key is finding a lender who assesses income using salary plus dividends, or — for contractors — day rate annualisation. Some lenders will also consider retained profit in your company. We specialise in limited company director mortgages and know which lenders in our panel offer the best terms for different company structures. Two years of accounts is the standard requirement.
Yes, with certain lenders. Some lenders will add retained net profit from your company to your income for borrowing purposes. Not all lenders do this — it's a specific policy. We identify whether this applies to your company structure and whether the additional income makes a meaningful difference to your borrowing before recommending it.
A small number of lenders will consider one year of trading, particularly if you have a track record in the same field as an employee, or if you are a contractor with a current contract in place. The lender pool is smaller and rates may be slightly less competitive, but it's not impossible. We assess your situation before advising whether to apply now or wait — sometimes a few months makes a significant difference to what's available.
No broker fee. No obligation. Tell us your income structure and we'll tell you exactly what you can borrow and which lenders will work for you.
01252 111 000Localnest Mortgages is an Appointed Representative of [Network Name], which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. The information on this website is for guidance only and does not constitute financial advice.