You hear a lot of talk about work/life balance these days. At a time when our working lives have been so disrupted, many of us have had cause to think about this idea, and see if we can strike a better relationship between the professional and personal aspects of our lives.
But there is always going to be some overlap between our personal and professional lives. With more people going back into the office now, that means commutes may have restarted, and some of the habits we got into when working from home (good or bad!) will have to be put aside.
Many people’s personal aims include the purchase of a home. And this naturally overlaps with our working lives in the sense that what we earn will affect our ability to save up towards and apply for a home of our own.
It seems that after a turbulent few months, some previously self-employed workers are choosing to work in a completely different way in order to try and secure a mortgage. This means turning their backs on the benefits of self-employed work, as much as they may have enjoyed doing so, in order to give themselves what they believe is a better chance of securing a mortgage.
Now most good things come with an element of sacrifice. In some instances, it may make financial sense for a self-employed person who is not earning enough money to afford a home to seek permanent work that gives them a better chance of doing so.
But some worrying statistics have come out that show almost 4 in every 10 self-employed workers are considering changing their working status to give themselves what they believe to be a better chance of securing a mortgage.
How many self-employed are reconsidering things?
According to a poll from The Mortgage Lender, 39% are reconsidering their employment and thinking about changing to a full-time position in order to secure a mortgage.
43% of those surveyed admitted to applying for a full-time position during the last year. A further 30% felt that the financial repercussions of the recent pandemic would limit their ability to secure a mortgage in the future substantially.
According to the ONS, there are around 4.4 million self-employed workers in the UK. Plenty will have had their own experience of the mortgage market, with both positive and negative stories to be told. What seems to be happening at present is an increasing feeling that if you are a contractor, a freelancer, or another type of self-employed worker, the best way to secure a mortgage is to change this.
But is this really the case?
Absolutely not! We are really keen to stress that many contractors, freelancers and self-employed workers are securing mortgages at the moment. We know this because as a specialist contractor mortgage broker, we are helping them to do so!
Every person’s employment circumstances are different, and if you believe moving to a full-time position is the right thing for your career right now, then that is a call for you to make.
But if you fear that as a self-employed worker your opportunity to secure a mortgage is diminished or zero, think again.
There are plenty of organisations out there who can support and advise. There are approaches you can take to help secure a mortgage you can afford and which suits your requirements.
Just last week, major lender NatWest changed their policy around lending to workers who had applied for a SEISS grant during the course of the pandemic. This shows a willingness for lenders to adapt and provide for self-employed workers, helping them to get the mortgage they want.
It is definitely possible to keep the contracting or freelancing job you love, and secure a mortgage. You just need to find the right support and options to make that vision become a reality.
