Mortgages for Accountants

Accountants are generally seen as low-risk borrowers by mortgage lenders, and many lenders offer enhanced income multiples to reflect that. But “accountant” covers a lot of different income shapes – employed in industry, working for a practice on salary and bonus, a sole practitioner running your own firm, or a partner sharing profits with the rest of the team. Each of those gets assessed differently, and not every lender is comfortable with every shape.

We work with lenders who understand accountancy income properly, so your application gets read in a way that reflects what you actually earn – not just what fits neatly into a standard payslip calculation.

Get in touch for free initial advice.

Why accountants are often treated differently by lenders

Qualified accountants are frequently grouped with other “professional” occupations – solicitors, doctors, vets – who lenders consider lower risk due to stable career progression and strong long-term earning potential. Where a standard residential mortgage is typically capped at around 4-4.5 times income, several lenders will stretch to 5, 5.5 or occasionally 6 times income for accountants who meet their criteria.

This isn’t automatic and it isn’t available from every lender. It usually depends on your qualification, your income level, and how your earnings are structured. Recognised qualifications that lenders commonly look for include ICAEW (ACA), ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, and in some cases AAT at the higher levels or ATT/CTA for tax specialists. Membership is normally evidenced with your certificate or membership letter at application stage – you can check your own status directly with your body, for example via the ICAEW membership register or the ACCA member portal.

Newly qualified and trainee accountants

If you’ve recently qualified, or you’re partway through your training contract with a confirmed post-qualification role and salary, you don’t necessarily need years of payslips before a lender will consider you. Some lenders will work from a signed contract confirming your new salary, recognising that a newly qualified accountant’s earning trajectory is fairly predictable from that point.

If you’re still training and know your post-qualification salary in advance, it’s worth speaking to us early – there are options even if you’re not quite there yet.

Employed accountants

Whether you’re in industry, a Big Four firm, or a smaller local practice, employed accountants usually have the most straightforward applications – but that doesn’t mean you should settle for a standard high street multiple. If your role includes a regular bonus, we’ll make sure that’s fairly reflected too. Most lenders will average bonus income over the last one to two years, and some will give more weight to a rising trend than a flat average.

Self-employed accountants and sole practitioners

Many accountants run their own practice through a limited company, which is often sensible for tax planning but changes how a lender reads your income. Some lenders look only at salary and dividends drawn from the business. Others will also consider retained profit left in the company – which can make a significant difference to how much you can borrow, particularly if you’ve deliberately kept your personal drawings modest.

This is where a lot of self-employed accountants get short-changed by their own bank: the first lender they ask often reads the income narrowly and offers less than they could actually afford. We know which lenders take a wider view of owner-managed practice income, and for some cases we can use an accountant’s certificate or reference rather than the full SA302 and tax year overview pack. HMRC’s guidance on Self Assessment and SA302 evidence is useful background if you haven’t needed one before.

If you trade as a sole trader rather than a limited company, lenders will typically use your SA302 and tax year overview for the last two years, based on net profit before tax.

Partners in accountancy practices

If you’re an equity partner or salaried partner, lenders assess you on your share of the practice’s profit rather than a fixed salary. Some lenders take the most recent year only, others average the last two or three years, and some weight the most recent year more heavily – which matters if your profit share is on a rising trajectory. Partnership accounts and your individual profit-share statement are the key documents here, and we’ll help you put together the right pack for the lender most likely to view your income favourably.

What you’ll need

Requirements vary a little depending on your situation, but typically:

• ID and proof of address
• Recent payslips and P60s if employed, or 1-3 years of accounts and SA302s if self-employed or a practice owner
• Professional membership certificate or letter (ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, AAT or equivalent)
• Partnership accounts and profit-share statements, where applicable
• Details of your deposit
• A reasonably clean credit history – if you’ve had credit issues in the past, tell us early so we can find lenders who’ll still consider you

Get started today

Whatever stage of your career you’re at – trainee with a confirmed offer, newly qualified, employed, a sole practitioner, or a partner in your practice – talk to us for free initial accountant mortgage advice. Contact us here.

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