Moving to a larger home, relocating for a new contract, or upsizing as your family grows? As a contractor, choosing the right lender can make a significant difference to how much you can borrow, as some lenders assess affordability using your day rate income rather than your accounts.
Many contractors find they can borrow more when moving home, especially if their day rate has increased, they have a longer contracting history, or lender criteria have improved since they bought their first property.
When you move home, you have the option to port your existing mortgage, carry it over to the new property, or to repay it and take out a new mortgage. Porting can be attractive if you are on a good rate that would cost you early repayment charges to leave. However, most lenders will only port if you pass a fresh affordability assessment, and the assessment criteria at your existing lender may not be as favourable as those of specialist contractor lenders.
Starting fresh with a new lender gives you access to the full market and allows you to apply the most favourable income assessment from the outset. For contractors whose day rate has increased since their original purchase, a new mortgage with a specialist lender often produces significantly better terms than a ported product. We compare both options and recommend the approach that gives you the best combination of rate, flexibility, and maximum borrowing.
The maximum you can borrow follows the same day rate annualisation principles as any contractor mortgage. A contractor on £600 per day has an annualised income of £138,000 on the standard 46-week calculation. At 4.5 times income, that is a maximum mortgage of £621,000. At 5 times with a specialist lender, the ceiling rises to £690,000.
In practice, the amount you actually borrow will depend on the sale price of your current property, the equity you are releasing, the purchase price of your new property, and your overall financial commitments. We work through the numbers with you at the outset so you know exactly what you can achieve before you start viewing properties.
As your contracting income grows, moving to a higher-value home becomes increasingly achievable. Specialist contractor lenders and private banks can offer flexible solutions for high-earning professionals.
Home mover mortgages require careful timing because you are managing a sale and a purchase simultaneously. We recommend starting the mortgage process as early as possible, ideally before your property goes on the market, so you have a mortgage in principle in place before you make an offer on the new property.
In some cases, you may need to complete the purchase of the new property before your existing one has sold. A bridging loan can cover the short-term gap, allowing you to complete on the new property and repay the bridge when your existing property sells. For contractors, bridging finance is assessed on the property value and exit strategy rather than solely on income, making it accessible even in cases where the income structure would slow a standard mortgage application.
In principle yes most mortgages are portable. However, porting typically requires a fresh affordability assessment at your existing lender, which may not use day rate annualisation. We compare the ported option against a new mortgage with a specialist contractor lender and recommend the approach that gives you the best result.
No you can apply for a mortgage in principle on the new property before your existing one is sold. The full mortgage offer is conditional on the sale completing, but having a mortgage in principle in place allows you to make offers and progress the purchase with confidence.
Yes if your day rate has increased since your original purchase, you may be able to borrow significantly more on a new mortgage than on a ported product. We calculate the maximum available from the full market and compare it against your porting option.
We begin with a free consultation to establish your borrowing capacity and review your porting options. We then issue a mortgage in principle. Once your offer on a new property is accepted, we submit the full application. The lender completes its valuation and issues a formal offer, coordinated with the conveyancing on both the sale and purchase.
Chain collapses are a risk in any home mover transaction. If your sale falls through, your purchase mortgage offer will typically lapse though many lenders allow extensions. We maintain communication with all parties throughout the process and manage the situation if complications arise.