Mortgages and being self employed

[mjd]

After some consideration we have decided to sell up next year and to look for something else. Currently we are with Nationwide and have been for the last 7 years. I have gone through the agreement in principle process with Nationwide to get an idea of what we can borrow, and a provisional figure of £145k was given. However, when the time comes to go to the next stage of this process, Nationwide require a certificate from an accountant to verify my earnings. I am self employed and have been for the last 5 years. The reality of this is that I work on a self employed basis for the three local Citizens Advice Bureaux covering all aspects of their ICT systems. I also do some less frequent work for a few other organisations.
Given I am only essentially working on behalf of one organisation, and my earnings are fairly modest, I have never needed the services of an accountant as my accounts are about as straight forward as accounts can be.

Has anyone else been in a similar position? I haven't looked at other lenders yet, but is this likely to be a stumbling block in our plans?

 

[Haircut]

Will they not just accept the company accounts as proof of earnings?
That's what I did for my mortgage. My accounts were prepared by my accountant, but as far as the lender was concerned they just wanted proven details of earnings regardless of who compiled them.

I went with Accord mortgages for mine, so you could try seeing what they can do for you.

 

[mjd]

Nationwide don't seem to be flexible on this. I suspect other lenders maybe prepared to bend a little from reading so far. I keep my own accounts and have all my tax returns for the last 5 years, so I'm hoping these will be enough.

 

[Tunney]

My partner is self employed. Her accounts are done my an accountant but we ran into problems when our mortgage provider couldn't find proof that her accountant was accredited. It turned out in the end that the accountancy firm has changed their name but hadn't told the accreditation registry organisation.

Before we tracked down the problem, the mortgage provider wanted three years of accounts signed by an accountant and an SA302 form from HMRC.

I'd be surprised if you will be able to proceed without an accountant verifying your accounts but my experience is limited to just the one lender.

 

[Tesla]

My mortgage is with the nationwide and at the time of application a few years back I had my own accounts, no accountant.

I submitted a form from hmrc which stated my profit/earnings and tax paid. Can't recall the form number but I have it filed in my office so will look it up tomorrow.

Edit - As above it's an SA302. You can print it yourself online but iirc it doesn't say SA302 on the self printed copy. I had to call HMRC and have 3 years worth of copies sent out.

 

[mjd]

From reading around it would appear that the SA302 may suffice.
I'm hoping that the last 7 years with Nationwide will perhaps encourage them to bend a little. This time around we are looking to borrow a good 30k less, so the mortgage could go in my partners name short term if they wont budge.