It aims to make lending more accessible for the self-employed
To help broker partners to get more self-employed mortgage applications approved the first time around, Saffron for Intermediaries has launched a campaign to make mortgages more accessible for the self-employed.
Aiming to increase awareness, the mutual has recorded and shared a self-employed masterclass webinar, where it addressed the complexities and nuances around mortgages for the self-employed.
Host Jay Evans was joined on the panel by Saffron for Intermediaries’ Tony Hall (pictured), head of business development, and Lee Williams, business development manager.
The self-employed masterclass webinar is available to watch on-demand online.
Saffron said it also listened to broker feedback, prompting the mutual to announce the most recent changes to its criteria, enabling more flexibility for the self-employed.
Self-employed applicants with two years or more of trading accounts can now access Saffron’s full range of products, opening opportunities for the self-employed, including self-build and joint borrower sole proprietor products.
The lender also continues to only request one year of accounts to be able to access its specialist self-employed product range.
Saffron pointed out that since 2020, self-employed individuals have seen increasing challenges when applying for a mortgage and that the ‘one size fits all’ approach of the larger lenders has posed challenges for more complex cases.
The Mortgage Broker Tools Affordability Index also identified that a third of all self-employed applications did not pass the lenders’ affordability criteria.
Saffron for Intermediaries’ commissioned, independent survey of 1,000 self-employed individuals also found that nearly half, or 49%, said they wouldn’t feel confident finding a mortgage lender that offered an affordable self-employed product, while less than one in five, or 19%, believed there was a good choice of lenders who offered self-employed mortgages.
The survey also showed that nearly three quarters, or 73%, of participants surveyed believed that being self-employed put them at a disadvantage when applying for a mortgage, and that only 15% agreed with the statement that there were plenty of mortgage products available on the market for self-employed individuals.
The data captured by the survey, Saffron stressed, highlighted how important it was for lenders and brokers to work in collaboration to ensure self-employed borrowers knew that there were products available for them.
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