The key questions here are: do you have accounts which reflect your true income and how long have you been self-employed for? If you have been self-employed for a number of years and have up-to-date accounts, getting a mortgage would be similar to an employed person.

To qualify for a full status loan you will usually need to have been trading as a self-employed person for at least two years. If you do not have accounts, self-assessment documents will normally be accepted. This is no different to an employed person, so you would have access to the same mortgage products.

If, however, you have been trading for a shorter time or if your accounts do not show a true picture of your earnings, you may find that the self-certification of income route is more suitable.

Lenders will still require you to have been trading for a minimum period (usually one year) and may restrict the amount they will lend. They will also want to be happy that the amount you want to borrow is affordable, so information on your income and outgoings will be required.

Not only is money still available on a self-certification basis for self-builds and renovations, but you can still borrow 95% to buy a plot or property for renovation via BuildStore’s Accelerator Advance Stage Payment Scheme, and 95% of the costs of the building work.

The loan is subject to a maximum of 85% of the final value of the property, but because self-building or renovating can increase the value by 25-35%, that is unlikely to be an issue.