Mortgages for Locum Doctors
I specialise in sorting mortgages for locum doctors. And take great pride in working with mortgage lenders to negotiate bespoke deals for my clients.
Whether you’re employed or self-employed. Have years of experience or just started out. Hopefully you will find the information you need to get started below. And start to understand how I am able to make the most of my industry experience to negotiate the most suitable deal possible for you.
And if you think I’m the right person to help you. Please get in touch below.
Why should you work with a broker that specialises in Mortgages for Locum Doctors?
Because of my experience helping to sort mortgages for locum doctors. I have built up a strong understanding of your pay and career progression. Which combined with my industry experience and contacts has allowed me to negotiate bespoke deals that (in my opinion) just would not have been possible without the help of a specialist broker.
I have recently had great success negotiating mortgages for locum doctors in the following situations.
Employed Locum Doctors
- A doctor working solely on a locum basis where the income was acceptable despite not being a guaranteed source of income.
- A doctor who needed to utilise his additional income working as a locum doctor (on top of his main training contract) to boost his borrowing capacity.
- A doctor who had been working as a locum doctor for just THREE months.
Self-Employed Locum Doctors
- A doctor whose company profits were used to calculate their borrowing capacity *after just 12 months trading* rather than just their drawings from the business.
- A doctor whose locum invoices were used to calculate the amount they could borrow. Rather than their accounts or tax returns.
- A locum doctor who had been working in this way for just THREE months.
Please take a look over the information contained within this section of the website. And it would be great to hear from you if you think I am the right person to help.
Arranging Mortgages for Locum Doctors
The tax structure of your locum work will affect the way that mortgage lenders can assess this your income. You may still recieve NHS payslips. Or you may now be liable for the tax and national insurance yourself and file a tax return at the end of each year.
I’ll outline the main differences below.
NHS locum doctor.
Working as an NHS locum doctor, you will likely get weekly or monthly payslips where your tax and NI contributions are dealt with by the NHS.
Despite the regular availability of shifts. Because this work isn’t contracted and there’s no guarantee of work in the future, most mortgage lenders will treat you as working on a zero-hour contract. They’ll treat you the same as someone working in retail or hospitality. And if they’ll accept your income at all, will often want at least two years experience of working in this way.
But I have access to mortgage lenders who have approved applications after just three months of wage slips. Meaning you can arrange a mortgage much sooner.
I have access to specialist contacts within most mortgage lenders and specialise in negotiating bespoke criteria regularly getting them to waive their zero-hour-contract requirements to get you access to deals that just wouldn’t be possible without the help of a specialist broker.
Working a second job as a Locum Doctor.
Regardless of your tax status. If you work as a locum doctor in addition to another role. It is still possible to use this extra income to boost how much you can borrow from a mortgage lender.
The basics of how you are treated remain the same. But mortgage lenders will also want to ensure the amount of work you are taking on is sustainable. And that’s why many shy away from using extra income or only take a portion of it.
But there are mortgage lenders that get it. And this additional income can be considered by some mortgage lenders to increase the borrowing capacity available to you.
Self-employed locum doctor.
As a self-employed locum doctor, you won’t receive payslips and will be responsible for submitting a tax return to HMRC at the ends of the financial year.
This means most mortgage lenders will treat you in just the same way as any other self-employed applicant. And you will likely need to wait until you have completed two full tax years before applying for a mortgage.
Locum Doctor as a Sole Trader.
As a sole trader, you will declare a “profit from self-employment” each year. And most mortgage lenders will want to average this income over the last two to three years.
Locum Doctor as a Limited Company Director.
As a limited company director, you will pay corporation tax on the company profits and typically recieve personal income from the business by way of a salary and dividends. And again, most mortgage lenders will want to average this income over the last two to three years.
Why should you use a broker that specialises in mortgages for locum doctors?
As a doctor, you don’t neccesarily have to conform to the standard rules put in place by mortgage lenders. I have successfully negotiated bespoke deals where;
- The latest years declared income was used to calculate the maximum borrowing capacity.
- Company profits (rather than personal income) were used to assess the available income.
- Invoices were assessed to calculate the maximum borrowing capacity.
There are several different ways a self-employed locum doctor can be assessed by mortgage lenders. And the amount you want to borrow combined with the deals available at the time will have a large impact on who is the most suitable mortgage lender for you.
I believe that many of the deals I have sorted for locum doctors just woulnd’t have been possible without the help of a specialist broker.
Employed locum doctor.
If you’re employed by the NHS, a private practice or an agency to provide locum doctor services, you will likely receive sessional, weekly or monthly payslips where your tax and national insurance contributions are dealt with by the employer.
How many payslips are needed to sort mortgages for locum doctors?
It is best to provide as much evidence of your income as possible. This could be as little as three months payslips. But some mortgage lenders may want up to 12 months payslips & three years p60s.
The more information you can supply at the outset, the more options you will have available to you. Even if we don’t need to use it all later on in the process.
Self-employed locum doctor.
If you are responsible for your own tax and national insurance through an annual tax return, you will evidence your income differently. This will depend on whether you work as a sole trader or have a limited company set up. And there is an option to use your locum invoices and/or remittance slips too.
What income documents are needed as a sole trader to sort mortgages for locum doctors?
You will need to supply up to three years HMRC Tax Calculations and Tax Year Overviews. These are issued after you have filed your tax return to HMRC.
What income documents are needed as a limited company director to sort mortgages for locum doctors?
You will need to provide up to three years company accounts for your business. And up to three years HMRC Tax Calculations & Tax Year overviews to show your personal drawings from the company.
How to sort mortgages for locum doctors using just invoices!
It is possible to arrange mortgages for locum doctors using just your last six monthly invoices. Or remittance slips. This could potentially boost your borrowing capacity significantly. But you will need to provide the other documents to verify your income too.
Extra Reading...
An Offset Mortgage is a specialist deal available through just a handful of banks and building societies. And over the next 500 words I’m going to help you understand why they could be a great option for locum doctors.
When setting up an offset mortgage, you are also provided with an “offset savings” account. And any money you put into the savings account reduces the amount of interest you must pay on the mortgage.
Let’s assume you have a £100,000 mortgage. And you put £10,000 in the savings account. You don’t earn interest on these savings. But the mortgage lender will “offset” this money against the amount you owe. And you only pay interest on what’s left.
You will normally have the option to reduce your monthly payments. Or you can keep your payments the same and reduce the amount of time left on the mortgage.
There are a number of reasons why it would be sensible to arrange offset mortgages for locum doctors.
One reason would be to help save for your tax bill.
You may not want to put your tax savings into an investment where it’s value could rise or fall. Or access to the money limited. The amount you will likely need to save will be well in excess of the allowable contributions to “regular savings” accounts. And there is currently little interest to be earned if the money is left sitting in your business or personal account or any easy access savings.
But instead, by moving the money into your “offset savings” account. The money can start working for you immediately by reducing the amount of interest payable on your mortgage.
Another common reason is to help fund home improvements.
You could seek to re-mortgage your existing deal onto an “offset mortgage.” At the same time, you could borrow the money required to complete the work and place the funds into the “offset savings” account. You would take the money out of the account as the work is being completed. Meaning you only pay interest on the money when it is actually required.
I have also had clients use an offset facility for regular rainy day savings through to managing their childrens school fees. The options are endless.
There are two main downsides when sorting offset mortgages for locum doctors?
There are hardly any mortgage lenders offering this type of specialist mortgage. And you may have other priorities that are better served by other mortgage lenders.
And mortgage lenders normally charge more for their “offset mortgage” deals. So if you’re unlikely to utilise the facility it may not be worth paying the higher interest rates and/or fees associated with these deals.
I don’t know. Why not get in touch and we can talk through your options.
Podcast; Mortgages for Locum Doctors
I host a weekly Podcast helping doctors to understand mortgages. And of course inviting you to get in touch with me to discuss how I can help you. Below is the podcast episode exploring mortgages for locum doctors.
Would you like to...
- Overcome the difficulties often faced by doctors looking to sort a new mortgage?
- Get to know me to ensure I am the best person to help?
- Without affecting your credit score.
If you are a first time buyer or moving home...
- Estate agents like to know you have spoken to a professional, rather than just filled in a few forms online.
- I can tell you how much you can borrow from a comprehensive range of mortgages from across the market.
- Meeting typically last between 30 to 60 minutes to ensure you are well prepared to start the process of buying your first or next home.
It would be great to be a part of helping you buy your new home and secure the most suitable mortgage and protection portfolio.
If you are ready to talk, please feel free to get in touch or provide your contact details below.
If you are remortgaging...
- And are looking to negotiate the best deal, rather than relying on the deals offered by your existing lender.
- Or thinking about raising more money for an extension, home improvements or anything else.
It would be great to helping you in arrange the new mortgage.
If you are ready to talk, please feel free to get in touch or provide your contact details below.
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Russell Maggs
Mortgage & Protection Adviser
How can Maggs Financial Services help arrange mortgages for Locum Doctors?
“I have access to mortgage lenders and specialist contacts within these firms that are sympathetic towards locum doctors. They are able to apply common sense to income from locum work. And often don’t need to see long track records of working in this way .
“Using my industry contacts & experience I am able to negotiate bespoke criteria and have been able to significantly increase maximum borrowing capabilities or secure more competitive deals for my existing clients.”