More people are currently self-employed in the UK than ever before, but since the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) in April 2014, lenders have concentrated more on 'affordability' putting the onus on the self-employed to prove income.

Self Certification mortgages are long gone, so lenders typically divide the self-employed into the following categories:

• Sole Traders - Lenders will look at your profits when assessing your income, so most of the 'main stream' lenders now insist on seeing the past three years accounts, from a qualified Accountant, or SA302s for the same period. Lenders are increasingly using the self-assessment tax calculation, or SA302 form, to verify income for self-employed borrowers.
• Partnerships - Lenders will look at each partners share of the profit, with criteria being similar to Sole Traders.
• Limited Company - A limited company will have at least one Director, who normally pay themselves a basic salary plus dividend payments. The lender needs to take both these elements into consideration when assessing affordability. However, you may have profits that you choose to retain in the business, rather than take out in dividends. Some lenders will consider retained profits, but not all do! 

So what do you do if you do not have three years accounts? Well the good news is that a small band of lenders have started considering self-employed borrowers with just one years worth of accounts.

Any recent dips in income, lenders will require a satisfactory explanation.