A new survey has found that more than a quarter of self-employed workers have been rejected for a mortgage. The survey, commissioned by LendInvest and conducted by Opinium, polled 1,000 adults who were either key workers, non-salaried or had missed a payment.
32 per cent of respondents said that fear of rejection was a barrier to applying, while 29 per cent said they felt that a high street mortgage lender or bank had discriminated against them because of their employment status, a figure that rose to 39 per cent for people with poor credit and 59 per cent for respondents who had already been rejected for a mortgage.
The survey also demonstrated the lengths that people had gone to in order to improve their chances of getting a mortgage. 11 per cent said that they had either cancelled or delayed plans to become self-employed. 14 per cent had delayed retirement plans and 13 per cent had prioritised a higher salary over their “dream job”. Among those that had been rejected, 20 per cent had delayed plans to become freelance, while more than a quarter had pushed back retirement plans.
22 per cent of respondents said they don’t feel they will ever be able to apply for a mortgage, while 43 per cent felt that the cost of living crisis had impacted their chances of becoming a homeowner. 41 per cent of those polled who didn’t already own said that a drop in house prices would encourage them to buy a property.
LendInvest managing director, residential mortgages Esther Morley said: “The research confirms our long-held belief that the traditional high street mortgage model is not fit for purpose for a large proportion of the UK population and is failing to keep pace with the increasingly complex needs of prospective homeowners.”
“An increasing number of people across the UK have different income streams that do not conform with outdated legacy platforms and processes […] Many are left navigating a needlessly complicated, intrusive and stressful process, resulting in hardworking people being denied the dream of owning their own home and suffering unnecessary mental anguish.”
LendInvest CEO Rod Lockhart added: “These results shed more light on the difficulties facing those with more complex cases applying for a mortgage and the general sentiment regarding the mortgage process during what is a difficult time for potential homeowners.”
