Mortgage for Professionals

Podcast approved by The Openwork Partnership on 07/01/2025.

What is a professional mortgage? Is there a specific product for professionals?

In the traditional sense it means someone in a specific qualified role like a doctor, dentist or lawyer. These days, people often take professional to mean executive level jobs – but for mortgage purposes we’re talking about people with specific qualifications.

Whether there are specific products available to those individuals will depend on the lender. It’s quite possible that lenders will have enhanced criteria or products if you’re in one of the qualified professions.

The definitions also vary depending on the lender. Some are broader and will include surveyors and financial advisors. Those that offer more favourable terms do that because there’s a clear career trajectory for qualified professionals. It’s easier to predict where you’re likely to be in the years ahead. You are the kind of clients lenders like to have on their books, so they can in some cases offer more favourable options.

Do professionals get better mortgage rates?

You’re not necessarily going to get a better rate as a professional, but having said that, some lenders will have two ranges of products – a standard range and a professional range. In some cases the professional range will have lower rates, although not many lenders do this.

These will be fairly specialist, so you might find that while the professional range has lower rates than that lender’s standard range, it’s not lower than the best on the high street. Lenders generally offer rates depending on their size and scale. Bigger high street banks can offer cheaper rates because they can borrow money more cheaply and have established systems in place. There’s not necessarily a benefit to using a professional range.

Is it easier for a working professional to get a mortgage?

It can be. Anyone with a steady income will be looked on favourably by lenders. For a professional, some lenders may offer enhanced benefits such as higher income multiples, which mean they will lend you more.

As a qualified professional your career trajectory is positive, so they can be more confident in your ability to repay that loan. It might be easier to get a mortgage and you might be able to borrow a bit more, but in terms of rates, it’s unlikely to have a significant impact.

Who do mortgage lenders count as professionals?

If you believe you count as a professional, speak to a broker and we will work out which lenders agree with you on that.

Doctors, dentists, lawyers are the main ones, but anyone who needs to be qualified to do a role may be included by some lenders. The definitions change all the time, so speak to a broker and we can look into it for you.

I’ve recently graduated. Can I get a mortgage?

Yes, as long as you have a job. If you recently graduated and you’re applying for jobs, probably not. But if you do have a job as a newly qualified graduate with employed income, you can. Most lenders only require you to have been in the role for a month and have one month’s payslip.

You might be in a position where you’ve graduated and you’ve found a job, but you’re waiting to start. Some lenders will potentially give you a mortgage up to three months in advance of your start date. Again, if you are a professional within their definition, you may receive enhanced income multiples, slightly better rates or offset features at no extra cost.

Can I get a mortgage as a PhD student?

As a PhD student, you may be getting a stipend or bursary but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to use that income for mortgage purposes. From the lender’s point of view, they have a duty of care to make sure the mortgage is affordable for the entire term.

If you’re applying for a 30 year mortgage but you’ve only got two years left on your PHD, they will want certainty on what happens next and how you will sustain the payments. Whilst it’s likely you’ll get a job and carry on, you can’t claim that as income.

As a PhD student you might have other income streams that you could borrow against. But in my experience, the income you’re receiving as a PhD student isn’t usually suitable for mortgage purposes.

How much deposit do I need for a mortgage as a professional?

For the most part, it’s going to be a standard deposit. These vary depending on the amount of borrowing and any special options around products – like offset or interest only.

The more you’re borrowing, generally the larger the deposit you need. It’s a higher risk for the lender if you’re borrowing more, so they want a more of a buffer between what you’re paying for the property and its value.

If you’re borrowing a small amount, a 5% deposit will probably do. Borrowing £1 million plus will usually mean you need at least a 15% deposit, but some lenders may allow a smaller deposit for a professional.

Again, it’s a bit like the rates piece – a specialist lender’s standard range might require a 10% deposit for a £500,000 mortgage, but for a professional, they only need 5%. It gives you another option, but you might find that plenty of high street banks will do a 5% deposit on that lending anyway. The specialist lender’s professional offer might not be any more favourable than you might find on the high street.

How much can you borrow on a mortgage as a professional?

Sometimes lenders give enhanced income multiples to professionals. It’s a bit like the deposit and the rates – they might give you slightly more borrowing, but that might not be more than other lenders would offer you.

It’s possible that you could borrow up to 5.5 times your income – but every now and then a lender will pop up and offer you six times. It can be a bit of a gimmick. There are two assessments lenders make when looking at how much you can borrow. One is the loan to income multiple – that multiple of your salary – and the other is the affordability assessment. They’ll look at your committed outgoings every month and how much is left over for mortgage payments.

These lenders might offer 6.5 times income, but after the affordability assessment it squashes back down to 4.5. Or, there might be specialists that will give professionals a higher income multiple, but charge you higher rates. It all depends on your priorities – and all this does change. Again, just speak to a broker and see what’s available at the point you’re looking to make an application.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of getting a mortgage as a professional?

The benefits are that you’re attractive to all lenders, not just professional lenders. You’re in a good position to borrow money. It depends on what you’re looking to do and how much deposit you have, but generally as a professional your income is going to increase as your career progresses.

The drawback is that if you go to a specialist lender to get those advantages we discussed, you might pay a bit more on the rate. Again, it all comes down to your priorities.

Let’s say, for example, you can put in a 10% deposit but not 15% – and that’s acceptable to a specialist lender. For your needs, it may make sense to pay a higher rate for a couple of years until your income increases and you can move back to a mainstream lender. It’s all about balancing your priorities and whether you think it’s worth doing.

Can I get a mortgage as a professional if I have debt?

Most professionals will come out of university with some level of student debt. You can still get a mortgage, but any debt you have has to be factored into the affordability assessment. Lenders look at your committed outgoings, which will include repayments on a student loan or indeed a personal loan or credit cards etc. That will be factored into how much you can borrow.

Having debt in the background can impact the borrowing. I seem to remember hearing that a student loan won’t affect your ability to obtain credit in the future, but that isn’t true, because it is factored in and it can reduce the size of your mortgage.

Can professionals who are self-employed get a mortgage?

If you’re self-employed, most lenders want you to have been in that role for two years. Generally you need two years worth of tax calculations, and lenders work out an average of what you’ve earned in those two years. They just want a bit of consistency to evidence you can sustain the mortgage payments in the long term.

However, some professionals may be moving into a pre-existing business – as a doctor in a GP practice for example, where you’re becoming an owner of that business. Some lenders won’t necessarily need that two years’ experience. They look at what you’re likely to draw from that business from day one and use that as your income.

We do this a lot with lawyers, actually. If you have moved from associate to partner, you are suddenly self-employed as a partner in an LLP. For the most part, you have some sort of minimum drawing as a partner. If so, lenders don’t need you to have those two years’ experience. They can use the income you’re taking straight away, without annual tax calculations. We just need a letter from the company accountant or finance director confirming that minimum level of drawings.

Can I get a Buy to Let mortgage as a professional?

Generally for Buy to Let mortgages, lenders are interested in the income that the property generates rather than yours as the borrower. Most do have a minimum level of personal income, however, which might be £25,000, which confirms that you can look after yourself and won’t be relying on the income from the property.

They apply stress testing to the rental income from the property, which can vary, but generally most lenders want that rent to cover the mortgage by 1.5 times or so. Plus, instead of using the interest rate on that mortgage, they’ll add a couple of percent. Then, if interest rates do go up, they know you can still cover the 1.5 times at the new rate.

That’s all based on the rent that the property generates. As long as you’ve hit the minimum personal income, there’s no reason you can’t get a Buy to Let as a professional. There’s not going to be any difference in terms of the products offered – that’s all going to be standard.

Do I need to prepare anything in advance when applying for a mortgage as a professional?

It depends on your role, what you do and the lender’s definition of professional. Other than that, it’s the same things as we recommend to all clients, starting with getting your credit record cleaned up. Get everything registered to one address and get all your documents prepared: bank statements, payslips, ID and proof of address.

Organise your Decision in Principle early, before you start viewing properties, so you know the lender’s happy with your credit profile. Then, you’re prepared – when you see something you like, you can jump on it and make an offer.

We can run that Decision in Principle and take the admin out of your hands – and also advise on other ways to set yourself up. It might be getting a solicitor lined up or, if you need a remortgage, we’ll confirm the timings on that.

You’ll always be much better off with someone in your corner that knows what’s going on and can make recommendations.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP WITH YOUR MORTGAGE REPAYMENTS

THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY DOES NOT REGULATE MOST BUY TO LET MORTGAGES.

Approved by The Openwork Partnership on 07/01/2025.