CASE STUDY – Securing a Dream Family Home for a Newly Self-Employed First-Time Buyer

Our client was a first-time buyer who was currently renting and looking to purchase what they hoped would become their long-term family home.

The property they had fallen in love with was far from a standard purchase. Built in the late 1800s, it was a character property of traditional construction, including a thatched roof, extensive grounds, and multiple outbuildings. While the property offered everything the family wanted in terms of space and lifestyle, it also required significant renovation and modernisation work.

The client had recently transitioned from employed status to self-employment, remaining within the same industry and line of work. Having built strong experience and expertise in their sector, they decided to establish their own business. However, they had only completed one year of trading and therefore only had a single year’s accounts available.

To preserve funds for the planned renovation works, the client was keen to proceed with a 90% loan-to-value mortgage, using only a 10% deposit. This would allow them to retain capital for improving and personalising the property once the purchase completed.

While the client’s circumstances were understandable, they presented a number of challenges that made securing finance more complex than a standard first-time buyer application.

The first hurdle was the client’s self-employed status. Many lenders prefer to see two or even three years of trading history before considering a self-employed mortgage application. As the client had only recently moved from employment to self-employment, we needed to wait until their first tax return had been submitted so that their income could be fully evidenced.

Once the tax return was available, we then had the challenge of identifying a lender willing to consider just one year’s accounts while also supporting a high loan-to-value mortgage application.

However, the difficulties did not end there. Following submission of the mortgage application, the lender’s valuation highlighted concerns regarding structural movement within the property. As a result, the lender required a full structural survey before they could continue assessing the case.

After the structural report was completed, we submitted an appeal to the lender in support of the purchase. Unfortunately, the initial report did not fully satisfy the lender’s requirements, leading to requests for further investigation and additional commentary from the structural engineer.

The process became increasingly complex, with multiple parties involved, including the client, surveyors, structural engineers, valuers and underwriters. The delays associated with obtaining specialist reports and reviewing the valuation appeal extended the application timeline considerably, with the period from application to mortgage offer eventually exceeding two months.

Having extensive experience working with self-employed applicants, I knew there were lenders in the market prepared to consider borrowers with only one year’s accounts, particularly where they had moved from employment into self-employment within the same profession or industry.

Following a detailed assessment of the client’s circumstances, I identified a suitable lender whose criteria aligned with the case. This gave us the opportunity to proceed despite the limited trading history.

Once the valuation issues arose, my focus shifted to managing the appeal process and maintaining momentum on the application.

Drawing upon my experience of handling complex property cases, I worked closely with both the client and the lender to ensure every concern raised by the valuer was addressed fully and professionally. I coordinated the submission of structural reports, gathered additional evidence when required and continually liaised with the lender to demonstrate the property’s suitability as security.

My relationship with the lender’s Business Development Manager (BDM) proved particularly valuable throughout this stage. Regular communication allowed us to discuss the case in detail, understand exactly what additional information was required and ensure the application continued progressing through each stage of underwriting.

Throughout the entire process, communication with the client remained a priority. Even during periods where there were no significant updates, I maintained weekly contact to keep them informed, manage expectations and provide reassurance that progress was being made behind the scenes.

This consistent support helped the client remain confident and engaged despite the lengthy and sometimes frustrating delays outside of their control.

Following extensive work with the lender, valuers and structural engineers, we successfully secured a mortgage offer and enabled the client to proceed with the purchase of their dream home.

The solution secured was a competitive five-year fixed-rate mortgage at 90% loan-to-value, an excellent outcome given both the client’s recent move into self-employment and the property’s specialist nature.

The mortgage allowed the client to move forward with the purchase while retaining sufficient funds to undertake the renovations they had planned from the outset. Rather than exhausting their savings on a larger deposit, they were able to preserve capital for improving the property and creating a home tailored to their family’s needs.

The additional space provided by the house, large garden and outbuildings also gave the client’s family the room they needed while creating opportunities to support the continued growth of the client’s business.

Importantly, our support did not stop once the mortgage offer was secured.

As part of our ongoing service, we continued monitoring the mortgage market and identified a newly released product with a lower interest rate before completion. By successfully securing the improved rate for the client, we reduced their monthly mortgage payments by more than £120 per month.

After navigating over two months of challenges, reports, appeals and lender reviews, the client was delighted with the outcome. The combination of regular communication, specialist lending knowledge and persistence throughout the process ensured they could achieve their goal of purchasing a unique family home that many lenders may have struggled to support.

Emma Foley, Mortgage ​& Protection Consultant