Self-Employed vs Employed Director Mortgages

How much can employed and self-employed company directors borrow?

To see how employment status affects your maximum borrowing potential, let's compare two fictional company directors, Tony and Wendy.

Tony is a director of a haulage firm, on a salary of £75,000 p.a. He only owns 5 per cent of the company shares, and as such, he's classed as a company employee by the lender.

In the latest trading year, he received £25,000 in dividends for his share of the business profits.

Most banks and building societies will only use Tony's salary for mortgage affordability. Potentially allowing him to borrow up to £337,500 (4.5 times his income) as a sole applicant, subject to a credit check and expenditure assessment.

Borrowing more as an employee director

However, one benefit of being treated as an employee rather than self-employed is the potential to borrow at a higher multiple of income.

Some lenders are happy to use a loan-to-income (LTI) multiple between 4.75 and 5.5 times earnings for employed applicants. Particularly if you're classed as a high-earner, which is typically for income around the £70000-£75000 per annum mark.

Which means, with the right lender, it's possible Tony could borrow between £356,250 and £412,500 just using his salary alone.

Using his dividend income as well, which some lenders permit, he could potentially borrow up to £550,000.

How a self-employed applicant's borrowing capacity is calculated

Wendy, on the other hand, is a 100% shareholder in her ecommerce business selling Thai food supplies. As such, she'll be applying for a mortgage on a self-employed basis.  

She draws a salary of £12500 and took £37500 in dividends in the latest trading year.

Because of the size of her shareholding, Wendy's borrowing capacity is likely to be capped at £225,000 using a loan to income multiple of 4.5 times earnings.

If, on the other hand, she drew a salary of £50,000, her combined income of £87,500 could allow her to borrow £393,750.

You can learn more about limited company director mortgages by reading our in-depth guide here.

The advantages and disadvantages of being an employed director

As you can see, an employee limited company director has a couple of advantages over their self-employed counterpart.

1. they can potentially borrow more using a higher loan-to-income multiple
2. they can apply for a mortgage after being in the director's role for as little as one month.

The main disadvantage for an employed director is that your dividend income may be excluded for mortgage affordability.

Self-employed applicants also tend to have higher earning capacity as they take a greater share of profits.

Getting a director mortgage quote

Navigating the lending criteria around self-employed and employed director mortgage applications is far from straightforward.

At SEMH, we steer you through all this complexity to find the right mortgage provider for your individual circumstances.

Accessing a huge panel of mainstream and specialist lenders,  we always source the cheapest pound-for-pound deal, subject to qualification, after including any arrangement or other lender fees.

We have access to thousands of mortgage deals, including products specifically designed for self-employed applicants.

To find out more, call 0117 205 0655 (our opening hours are 9am to 5pm Monday - Friday).  Or if you prefer, simply complete our 90 second quiz and we'll call you back.  

The initial call only takes about 10 minutes. At the end of it we'll indicate if you're eligible, and your maximum borrowing amount. And we'll of course answer any questions you have, before discussing the potential next steps.

So get in touch and let's find the right mortgage deal for your circumstances.