Every application is assessed on an individual basis but the broad criteria are: 1) You must have a current contract in place. 2) You need to prove continuity in the type of work you do. 3) Borrowers new to independent working are acceptable. 4) Income can be defined via annualised rate. The only documentation CMME requires to support an application is a copy of your current contract, SA302’s, tax overview statements or trading accounts (where available), identification and bank statements. CMME can assess how lenders view your circumstances based on feedback from banking sector decision-makers, with no obligation.

Before independent professional mortgages were created, many contractors, freelancers and consultants had to rely on self-certified mortgages with higher rates and higher fees. But today, with our help, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to secure the same mortgage rates as someone working on a PAYE basis. We don’t offer different pricing and we don’t deal with lenders who do because we believe it’s unfair to penalise you. Instead, we work closely with you to understand exactly the kind of mortgage you need, then we research the market to identify the lender best placed to help. We always keep our independent professional rate table up to date so you can stay in touch with the best, most competitive mortgage rates out there.

Learn more: Our mortgage rates

A standard mortgage application is assessed based on salary plus dividends and/or net profit if you run a limited company or net profit if a sole trader. If you’re using an umbrella company, then it will be your PAYE income, often deducting any income for holiday pay and noted as commission. Traditionally, lending criteria have been based on individuals being either employed or self-employed. The issue with this traditional approach is that independent professionals don’t fall into either of these categories, meaning the sum you’re able to borrow falls short of what you should be able to secure. When you cannot provide trading accounts an independent professional application is evaluated based on your gross contract rate, with less emphasis on how you get paid. For an umbrella contractor, we aim to work with a lender willing to include all elements of the pay listed on your payslip by using your gross contract rate. We use your current contract rate to establish a borrowing figure, and support this with previous contracts and occasionally your CV if a lender requires it.

We’re dedicated to supporting Britain’s growing community of independent professionals – ambitious, enterprising people like you who’ve backed themselves to make their own way in life.

We know being independent makes you different from the norm and too often that means government and conventional service providers leave you in the lurch. We think that’s wrong and, since we launched in 2004, we’ve made it our mission to do something about it.

We believe being independent shouldn’t stop you from buying the home you deserve. We’ve worked long and hard to help lenders understand independent professionals better and we’re ready to bring you the know-how, the experience, and the connections you need to get a great mortgage deal.