The contractor structures — limited company day rate, umbrella on evidenced assignment rates, fixed-term and mixed shapes — are assessed within the manual frame, with complex and multi-source incomes read for what they produce.
The flexibility extends to the moderately non-standard profile; the deep-adverse file remains specialist-tier territory, where dedicated rehabilitation lenders hold the stronger hand.
Metro’s underwriting model retains human decision-making on non-standard cases — context weighed, stories read, judgement applied — while operating at volumes and speeds the small-mutual manual tier cannot sustain. The practical effect: manual consideration without the capacity rationing, funding-cycle product withdrawal and boutique pacing that shape the smallest societies.
Metro prices the manual-bank middle: above the automated rate leaders, competitive within the manual tier. The product range covers purchase and remortgage broadly, with the professional and larger-loan segments handled comfortably. Live pricing decides its place on any given shortlist, as throughout the tier.
Criteria flexibility is where Metro tends to earn its place on a shortlist rather than pricing alone. Self-employed applicants, those with complex income, and older borrowers often find the manual underwriting process works in their favour, since a human assessor can weigh context that automated scoring would simply decline. This makes Metro a reasonable fallback when a case doesn’t fit neatly into a high-street lender’s criteria, even if the headline rate isn’t the cheapest available.
A well-prepared application helps Metro's underwriters make faster, more confident decisions. By clearly evidencing your income, explaining your structure, and addressing any irregularities upfront, you give the underwriter everything needed to assess your case efficiently.
Provide supporting documents for every source of income to present a complete financial picture.
Yes — human decision-making on non-standard cases is core to Metro’s model, applied at bank scale: the complexity tolerance of the manual tier with processing capacity the small mutuals cannot match.
The standard structures — day rate, umbrella on evidenced assignment rates, fixed-term, mixed and multi-source shapes — read within the manual frame for what they genuinely produce. Moderate non-standardness is the appetite; deep adverse remains specialist territory.
The same band, different axis: Atom pairs manual judgement with app-digital pace; Metro pairs it with traditional bank breadth and branch presence. Within the manual-bank middle, live pricing and case fit decide — which is the comparison we run on every shortlist they share.
The complete manual file: every income source evidenced, structures explained, irregularities addressed candidly with documents. Complete files get the manual decision at bank pace — the combination that defines Metro’s slot.
Usually only with a trading history behind them — the manual tier reads a track record, not a projection. Contractors newly out of permanent employment, or without a completed contract or two on file, generally sit better with a specialist lender until that history exists; Metro’s manual appetite opens once there’s evidenced pattern to underwrite against.