Borrowers 'denied mortgages due to unconventional working hours'

Date:Monday 20th October 2008
Author:

Borrowers seeking mortgages could be denied because of their working patterns, it has been reported.

Writing in the Mirror newspaper, John Husband said that as many as one-quarter of would-be homebuyers struggle to secure a mortgage.

He stated that in most cases it is because they do not work nine-to-five, although many more people have started working irregular hours in the past decade.

This includes seasonal, part-time, contract and self-employed workers.

But Ray Boulger of mortgage brokers Charcol told the paper that the situation is changing.

He said that lenders now understand that people on annual contracts which are renewed regularly "may have more job security than someone on PAYE who could be sacked at short notice".

Mr Boulger also noted that with information available online from credit reference agencies, credit history can be found more easily even with people in less regular employment.

Recently, the Times reported that tracker mortgage providers are failing to let their interest rates go below a minimum.

Mr Boulger told the paper that buyers of tracker rate mortgages "expect their rate to move in line with base rate" and said they would be "shocked" to find it does not.