Mortgages for Company Directors

Mortgages for limited company directors can be more complex than other types of self-employed mortgages, but they’re far easier to obtain if you know where to turn for the right advice. Speaking to a mortgage broker who specialises in people who trade this way could be the difference between mortgage approval and potential disappointment.

In our guide to limited company director mortgages, you’ll learn how to find such a broker, what kind of criteria these products usually come with, how to evidence your income and much more. Plus, in our FAQ section, we tackle the questions we hear most often from limited company directors who are looking for a mortgage.

• Eligibility
  • Trading history
  • Deposit amount
  • LTV
• Proving income
• Affordability
• Remortgaging to raise capital
• Speak to an expert
• FAQs

Eligibility

There are mortgage products aimed specifically at limited company directors and mortgage lenders who specialise in this demographic. If you’re a limited company director, the way you will have to declare your income and how it will be assessed will be different to a customer in full-time employment, and this is why it’s important to find a lender who understands your employment situation. Here’s a rundown of the criteria you’ll typically need to meet…

Trading history

You typically need to have been trading for a minimum of 12 months to get a mortgage (the only exception to this is for doctors and other professionals who are potentially eligible with a lesser trading history subject to evidence of contracted future income).

Ideally, you’d have a full tax years’ set of accounts, however, if your trading year spans across 2 tax years (which often is the case) then there are lenders that consider a rolling 12 months snapshot rather than making you complete the 2nd tax year before applying.

Deposit amount

The amount of deposit company directors and business owners are asked for will likely depend on whether your mortgage application is straightforward (i.e. no adverse credit, adequate proof of income etc) or complex (bad credit, recently became self-employed etc).

The table below puts this into perspective…

Straightforward cases	5% (max 95% LTV)
Complex cases with specialist lenders	15% (one lender will consider up to 95% LTV)

For the most part, eligible company owner borrowers are treated the same as any other borrower in terms of deposit requirements, up to 95% loan to value. Things sometimes change when you use specialist lenders because they try to mitigate the increased risk against larger deposits.

Typically, with a 15% deposit you will have access to the majority of specialist lenders (there is one specialist lender who will consider a 95% loan to value ratio (LTV) in certain circumstances). If you have adverse credit the requirement may be more depending on what the issues are and how recent they are.

Loan to value ratios

The maximum loan sizes on mortgages for business owners vary from lender to lender but are usually restricted to a certain loan to value (LTV) ratios.

A rough overview is outlined below:

Lending limit for most mortgage providers	Loan to value ratio
£0 – £570,000	95%
£0 – £750,000	90%
£750,001 – £1,000,000	85%
£1,000,001 – £2,000,000	80%
£2,000,001 – £5,000,000	70%
£5,000,000 +	Likely to be approx. 50%

Proving income

All lenders require evidence of this income and can ask for it in different forms.

The main documentary evidence you’ll need is as follows:

Definitely required:	Finalised accounts and/or SA302 from HMRC and/or OR Accountants reference
Usually required:	Latest 3 months business & personal bank statements

To find out which accountancy qualifications are accepted by mortgage lenders read our standalone guide on this topic.

It’s important to bear in mind that some lenders will only want accounts, an SA302 or a reference, others require both accounts and an SA302.

Affordability

Since the roll-out of mortgage market review (MMR) many lenders have moved away from typical income multiple models and have implemented more of an affordability-based assessment.

That said, they do cap lending on mortgages for company directors at certain limits and the income multiple rule still offers a good guide as to the maximum you will be able to borrow.

Customers with clean credit (some mild adverse can be considered)	Up to 5x income (by absolute rare exception this may be stretched further in special circumstances).
Customers with adverse credit	Up to 4.5x income (occasionally up to 5x income depending on the cause, severity and how recent the issues are).

Income calculation

How a mortgage lender calculates your income for a mortgage application will depend on what type of company director you are – i.e, whether you’re a sole trader, in a partnership or a limited company director.

The table below puts this into perspective…

Trading Style	Income used to calculate affordability
Sole trader	Net profit
Partnership	Share of net profit
Ltd company Director	Salary drawn + Dividends (most lenders) or Share of net profit (specialist lenders)

As a company director, your accountant will most likely have recommended you take a salary up to the tax-free threshold, and then dividends for any other income. It is common for company directors to want to leave cash in the business to a) avoid paying further income tax, or b) provide growth funds for the business.

The impact of this, however, is that most lenders consider ‘income’ as being the actual drawings from the business, so if your company has made a profit of £200k and you have only paid yourself £40k through salary and dividends lenders will consider your income to be £40k.

This is where a lot of mortgage applications for self-employed company directors fall down because most of the high street lenders operate in this way and it takes specialist knowledge of the niche alternatives to find a suitable lender.

Dividends

With mortgages and dividend income, the tax liability is lower than standard earned income through a salary or taxed net profit, which in effect puts more cash in your pocket on a monthly basis.

There are some lenders willing to lend more than usual, noting that the affordability will be greater. This is particularly important for those looking for the maximum company director mortgage loan they can get, as it can calculate the dividends in to show higher affordability and get them a larger mortgage than they could obtain elsewhere.

Borrowing using profit retained in a limited company

Thankfully the specialists can consider mortgages for company directors based on the company profit even if you have retained some income in the business, and using the above scenario these would consider income to be the full £200k.

The impact this has on maximum loan amounts can be huge, as per the illustration below:

Lender type	Income type considered	Amount of declarable income (for example purposes)	Max mortgage you could get (based on x5 salary)
High street	Salary + Dividend	£40,000	£200,000
Self-employed specialist	Share of net profit	£200,000	£1,000,000

Not only can this information be pertinent to large well-established and highly profitable business owners but also with mortgages for small business owners.

In the early days of a limited company, many owners want to reinvest any profits directly back into the business in order to grow it. Not knowing that limited company directors can get mortgages using retained net profits could mean that they end up choosing between one or the other unnecessarily when, in reality, they could have had the best of both worlds.

For further information on this topic, you read our guide to using retained net profit to get a mortgage.

Remortgaging to raise capital – business and other purposes

If you have equity in your property and are looking to borrow money for your business (or to invest in another business or asset), it’s likely you’ve been declined as the majority of lenders only allow capital raising for consolidating debt, home improvements, or perhaps consumer goods such as a car or holiday – when it comes to business purposes there are only a handful of specialist lenders that will consider the application.

With these lenders, you can get up to 85% loan to value as a maximum (subject to usual affordability etc), even if you have had adverse credit in the past.

Speak to a company director mortgages expert

Whatever your situation, if you’re self-employed or a limited company director/shareholder and need some advice from an expert please call 0808 189 2301 or make an enquiry. We will refer you on to a broker that is approved by us and has specific experience in this area.

If you want to know if you can get a mortgage with late payments (or missed payments – arrears), then get in touch and an expert can review it all for you.

FAQs

Got a question about company director mortgages that we haven’t covered so far? Take a look through our FAQ section to see whether it has the information you need.

Can I get a mortgage if I’m a company director with bad credit?

Yes. Anyone with adverse credit will be restricted with the number of lenders they can go to depending on how severe and recent the issues are. See our guide to bad credit mortgages for more information, but a summary of what adverse mortgages for business owners are generally possible specific to the self-employed is below.

Bear in mind that the number of lenders may be restricted further if you have other niche lending requirements such as wanting to use your most recent year’s figure, or if you have only been trading for one year.

The table below illustrates which credit issues lenders typically accept, and how long they will need to have been on your file for.

	0-12 months	1-2 years	2-3 years	3-4 years	4+ years
Late payments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CCJ’s	Yes (If under £1000)	Yes (If under £2500)	Yes(Any value)	Yes(Any value)	Yes(Any value)
Defaults	Yes (If under £1500)	Yes(Any value)	Yes(Any value)	Yes(Any value)	Yes(Any value)
Debt MGMT	Yes (even if current)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
IVA	Unlikely	Possible with 25% deposit	Possible with 20% deposit	Likely with 20% deposit	Likely with 20% deposit
Bankruptcy	Possible with 25% deposit	Possible with 25% deposit	Possible with 25% deposit	Yes with 10-15% deposit	Yes with 10% deposit

Can I get a mortgage if my business has declared losses in the last three years?

Getting a mortgage for a limited company director who has declared a loss in the last three years can be very difficult if he/she is wanting to go with one of the high street lenders. This is because it can indicate to them a lack of income reliability and, thus, increased risk.

If you have declared a loss in the most recent year then it is highly unlikely a lender will approve you, unless your salary is deducted before profits, in which case it may still be approved subject to a satisfactory explanation and underwriter approval.

If the loss was two years ago and you have made a recovery since, you are more likely, and if the loss was three years ago with a three-year trend of recovery there are several specialist lenders who’ll consider you.

Can I borrow based on my business’ most recent years’ figures?

Yes. Company directors at growing businesses, who are making more income in the most recent year than previous, may struggle to get approved because lenders will usually average the last two or three years income.

The example below outlines the difference in amount that lenders will lend based on this criteria.

Year	2015	2016	2017	Income used if averaged	Income used if recent year
Income	£10,000	£10,000	£50,000	£23,333	£50,000

Based on the above example, the maximum loan size at 5 times income would be £116,665 (averaged over the past 3 years) and £250,000 if based on the latest years income.

Thankfully there are specialists who will consider mortgages for ltd company directors based on the most recent years’ income, so make an enquiry and we’ll introduce you to an advisor who will be able to help.

Can I get a mortgage if I changed my trading style recently?

If you have recently changed trading styles (e.g. many sole traders go Ltd when they start earning larger sums) and you don’t have a full year’s trading under the new arrangement, then finding a mortgage can seem impossible.

Almost all lenders will consider it a fresh business and, as such, require the standard one to three years’-worth of trading accounts from the new business to establish your income and affordability, even if you had been running the exact same business for 10 years under the previous trading style!

Thankfully not all lenders are the same and there are a select few who consider the previous business as evidence of income even though it will have ceased trading.