Self cert mortgages 'catering for more people'
Self-certification mortgages are appealing to an increasingly wide range of people, an expert has claimed.
Neil Johnson, PR and policy manager for the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders' Association, said that while they were originally aimed at self-employed people who cannot provide proof of their income, they were now catering to changing employment patterns, with more people having more than one job or doing freelance work.
Self-certification mortgages don't require applicants to provide proof of their income such as wage slips, instead allowing the borrower to make a declaration of income which is taken on trust. However, this doesn't mean that the lender will not check the borrower's financial background to make sure they are reliable, Mr Johnson explained.
He said: "If the mortgage company phones your accountant up and they've never heard of you, or the phone just keeps ringing, then you might find you'll be asked a few more questions."
He added that it was also important for borrowers to "be realistic" when applying for these kinds of mortgages and to ensure that they only borrowed what they could afford to pay back.
According to figures from Datamonitor, the self-certification mortgage market was valued at £12.3 billion in 2004.
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