The self employed, contract workers and individuals with more than one income stream often encounter problems getting a conventional mortgage.

When you run your own business, providing proof of income is not always straightforward. It could be you have not been trading long enough to provide the three years of audited accounts, detailing net income, which is needed to satisfy most lenders. Even if you have three years worth of accounts available, it could be your accountant has entirely legitimately minimised your tax liability by offsetting a range of expenses. But as the self-employed are subject to the same lending multiples as anyone else, this could have the knock-on effect of making your business look less profitable than it actually is, which could stack the odds against you securing the mortgage you need.

However, some specialist and mainstream lenders offer self certification mortgages where you state your income level without having to provide any accounts. Self cert mortgages are suitable for people whose circumstances don't match those required for a conventional mortgage. Many of the self certification mortgage deals are only available through authorised brokers.

An independent mortgage broker has access to the whole of the mortgage market in the UK and will find the best self cert mortgage deal for you. Many people are daunted by the range of decisions they face when arranging a mortgage. A professional adviser will take the hassle away and guide you through your choices step by step, providing impartial advice on which option is the best for your own particular circumstances. 

Traditionally, a true state of 'self-cert' is where a borrower's income is derived from a range of sources and cannot be qualified. For example, your income may be a combination of cash, a Trust Fund, family money and revenue from an overseas property or investment. But each application will undergo a 'reasonability test' - for example, a road sweeper who declared a salary of £110,000 is likely to be investigated.

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Whether you're a first time buyer, looking to move to your next property or remortgage to a better rate, an independent advisor will locate the best deals for you from the whole of the market. Simply complete our no obligation enquiry form and an expert mortgage advisor will get back to you with the best products currently available in the UK.	As the credit crunch bites, the inevitable effect has been a stark reduction on the availability of self certified loans.  Getting a self-cert mortgage is certainly more difficult than it was, but there are still around 15 lenders in the market. A broker will shop around to find you the best self cert mortgage rates.	Company directors, business owners, sole traders, people with multiple income streams or additional income from overtime, bonuses and commission, seasonal workers, contractors, freelancers and people just stepping into self employment. Let an expert broker search from across lenders and products to find you the right deal.

Because of the nature of self-cert lending, it is common for borrowers to be self-employed - although if you are in receipt of three years' certified accounts, you will qualify for a standard mortgage deal. But self-cert can in certain cases be useful for employed people. For example, people with more than one job or employees who receive high levels of commission or bonuses or simply those working on a contract basis.

Self cert has attracted some bad press in recent years triggered by a toxic combination of an 'easy borrowing' culture and a house price boom. The can of worms was first opened back in 2003 when an episode of BBC2's The Money Programme lifted the lid on estate agents and mortgage brokers encouraging borrowers to grossly exaggerate their income to take on a bigger mortgage. This led to a full-blown investigation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) that issued a no-nonsense warning to both industry and consumer that knowingly falsifying income was a criminal offence. It also required brokers to prove that self cert was the most suitable course of action for each case.

It's important that you are honest. Even though the lender doesn't require you to provide proof of income, there should be no reason to overstate your income. Lenders will consider all forms of income such as second jobs,  bonuses, commission, investments, overtime and income from property rental. If you lie you are committing mortgage fraud and can be prosecuted.