Employment & UK Mortgages: Which Lenders Accept Your Situation
UK lenders disagree — often dramatically — on what counts as secure employment. Probation, self-employment, contracting, zero-hours and maternity leave each have their own lender pool. This page is the map.
Employment questions
Mortgage on probation
Around half of UK lenders will consider probation with a signed contract.
Read the answerSelf-employed with 1 year of accounts
Most lenders want 2+ years. A minority accept 1 year — with conditions.
Read the answerMortgage on maternity leave
Most lenders use your return-to-work salary, not your current SMP.
Read the answerContractor day-rate income
Day rate x 46 weeks method — often more generous than self-employed.
Read the answerZero-hours contracts
NHS bank, agency, care, teaching — 6–12 months history typically required.
Read the answerWhat lenders look at
Every UK lender asks the same questions about employment, but they weight the answers differently. The four factors that shift the lender pool most are:
- Stability of the contract — a signed permanent contract beats length of service in almost every lender's model.
- Income continuity — whether earnings have been consistent over the last 1–2 years, regardless of employer.
- Probation position — most lenders now accept probation with a signed contract, but the minority who don't can still cost you a search.
- Manual vs automated underwriting — high-street auto-decline lenders often reject cases a building society's manual underwriter would approve.
See what all 60+ UK lenders would lend you
Filter across lenders that match your employment situation and see actual maximum borrowing figures. Free for 9 lenders, £9.99 for the full 60+.
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