Self Certification Remortgages

Historically, it was always difficult for self-employed people to get mortgages or indeed remortgages, as it's difficult to prove or guarantee your income in the same way as people who are contracted permanent employees. However, the range of remortgage deals available has increased in recent years, and many lenders, including some of the more mainstream ones, are now willing to offer remortgages and mortgages to people who are self-employed.

Self-certification mortgages are a way of making mortgages, and indeed remortgages, available to people cannot prove their income, for example if they are self-employed. Although they are commonly used by self-employed people, self-certification deals are not exclusive to them and anyone can apply for one.

Proof

The basis for a self-certification remortgage is that you do not have to prove your income, although you are presumably basing your ability to pay the remortgage payments on this income.

Normally when applying for any mortgage deal, people will supply bank statements and other documentation to demonstrate that they have the funds to meet the repayments, and that they're likely to continue to do so. Additionally, if the remortgage is with the same lender that you have an account with, they may carry out checks into your bank accounts, which does not happen with a self-certification remortgage.

The alternative arrangement when you have a self-certification remortgage, is that you submit a signed declaration of your income, asserting that you are financially capable of paying the remortgage payments.

Options

A similar range of remortgage options are now becoming available for self-certification deals as for standard ones. To this end, you can get a selection of fixed and variable rate remortgage deals under self-certification.

Rates

Although the range of options is increasing, you may still find that a self-certification remortgage will involve higher interest rates, as some lenders do see these deals as having an increased level of risk. You may find that you will get better self-certification remortgages if you go through a broker, as they often have better access to the range of deals that are available to you.

Nature of your Business

You might well find that remortgage lenders view different types of business as incurring variable degrees of risk. For example, if you've been self-employed within your industry for a long time, and the industry is a reliable one that is likely to continue to bring you income in the long term, the lender will view you as less risky than if you've just started in an industry and it is one that the lender sees as less secure.

In General

Although you may find your options slightly limited when it comes to getting a remortgage as a self-employed person, you should still ensure that you take the time to research and think about what your options are. Try as far as possible to work out what your remortgage payments will be in the long and short term before making any commitments.