Products for ‘mortgage misfits’, meaning people overlooked by major high street lenders, are for ‘The Self-employed Specialist’, The Self-employed Professional’ and ‘The Contractor’.
The Self-employed Specialist mortgage is a 2-year discount at 3.59% to 75% LTV. Borrowers can take out loans up to £350,000 while the application and completion fees come to £199 and £800.
The Self-employed Professional and The Contractor products are both 2-year 90% LTV discounts at 3.99% for purchase and remortgage. The former product offers loans up to £350,000 and the latter £750,000. They both come with £999 worth of fees but borrowers can make unlimited overpayments with no early repayment charges.
Paul Winter, chief executive of Ipswich Building Society, said: “Too many credit-worthy borrowers with unusual circumstances are overlooked by mainstream mortgage lenders and our view is that mortgage misfits, including the self-employed, freelancers and contractors, should have the same level of choice and access to the mortgage market as any other group.”
Ipswich’s own research found that over three quarters (77%) of self-employed workers are concerned about not being able to shop around to arrange a mortgage and nearly two thirds (63%) said mortgage providers expected them to jump through more hoops than the employed.
Ipswich said the Self-employed Professional deal is aimed at solicitors, architects, accountants, dentists, doctors, surveyors, pharmacists, vets and optometrists, and people working in an established partnership of at least three years. The society will lend to 90% LTV for people with more than a year's accounts or 75% LTV for less than a year.
With the Self-employed Specialist product the applicant must be in the same line of work for the past three years and have accounts for a minimum of a year. Income can be verified to the 12 months accounts or via HMRC self-assessments. The applicant’s accountant must also be qualified in accordance with Ipswich’s lending policy.
