Kensington is a specialist that solves the dual problem of the contractor with a credit history: it grades adverse by type, severity and recency, while still assessing contract income properly. Many lenders do one or the other; Kensington does both, which is why it is a go-to for the contractor who has both a strong day rate and a blemish to work around. It also offers coverage rare in this market, including Northern Ireland. This guide covers how it assesses income and where it fits.
Approach is stable; the right tier and figures are confirmed at application.
The trap for a contractor with a default or CCJ is a lender that accepts the credit history but then collapses the income assessment to something conservative — or vice versa. Kensington grades the adverse by type, severity and recency to place the case at the right tier, and assesses the contract income alongside rather than letting the credit event flatten it. For a £600-a-day contractor with a historic default, that combination can mean borrowing that reflects the real income despite the blemish. The tier depends on your specific history, confirmed at application.
Kensington reads contractor income manually, with the day rate annualised in the standard way:
Day rate x 5 days x 46 weeks = assessed annual income
A £600 day rate assesses at £138,000; at a standard 4.5x that is around £621,000 of indicative borrowing — illustrative, and dependent on your circumstances, credit profile and Kensington’s live criteria.
A typical application is built around the current contract, work history, bank statements, proof of deposit and identity, and a clear picture of the credit history so the case is placed at the right tier first time. Pricing is tiered by the credit events — it is transitional, so we diarise the mainstream remortgage exit as events age and conduct stays clean. Kensington also lends in Northern Ireland, which many specialists do not. Its sweet spot is the contractor with graded adverse who needs both the credit and the income handled properly.
Illustrative only, using the standard 5 x 46 method and a typical 4.5x multiple; the tier depends on your credit profile.
Give Kensington a complete, honest picture of the credit history up front — the events, their dates and the reasons — so the case is placed at the right tier first time rather than being re-worked. Alongside it, present the contract so the income is assessed on the day rate, not collapsed by the credit event.
Plan the exit from the start: as events age and conduct stays clean, we diarise the mainstream remortgage so you do not stay on specialist pricing longer than necessary.
Kensington suits the contractor with both a strong day rate and a credit history to work around — defaults, CCJs, other graded adverse — who needs a lender that handles the credit and the income properly, together. Its Northern Ireland coverage also fills a gap few specialists cover.
It suits you less well if your credit is clean (a mainstream lender will be cheaper) or if the adverse is very deep or recent, where a deeper rehabilitation specialist fits better.
Yes — it grades adverse by type, severity and recency while assessing contractor income properly alongside. The right tier depends on your specific history, confirmed at application.
On the day rate or contract basis for qualifying contractors, annualised as rate x 5 x 46, read alongside the credit grading rather than collapsed by it.
Yes — it offers coverage rare in this market, including Northern Ireland. Specifics are confirmed at application.
It is transitional by design — as events age and conduct stays clean, the mainstream remortgage exits the specialist pricing. We diarise the exit.
Yes to both, with appropriate income evidence for each structure.
Pricing is tiered by the credit events it accepts — the premium reflects the adverse. Where the profile will recover we plan the remortgage exit.
Not necessarily — Kensington grades adverse by type, severity and recency and places the case at the appropriate tier, while assessing your contract income properly alongside. A historic default on a strong day-rate case is exactly what it is built to handle. The right tier is confirmed at application.
Yes — it offers coverage that is rare in this market, including Northern Ireland, which many contractor and specialist lenders do not. Specifics are confirmed at application.
Want to know whether Kensington Mortgages is the right lender for your contract — or which lender is? As a whole-of-market brokerage we compare Kensington Mortgages against the rest of the market and confirm live criteria for your circumstances before you apply.