Company director mortgages: salary, dividends and profit
Own 20% or more of your limited company and lenders treat you as self-employed. Most look at your salary and dividends over the last two years. Some will use your share of the company’s profit instead, which can mean borrowing a lot more if you leave money in the business.
← Self-employed mortgagesSelf-employed · Company directors
- Specialist self-employed mortgage advisors
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Company director mortgage calculator
What could you borrow?
Complete a few basic details to get an idea of the maximum mortgage lenders could offer on your company income. Add the company’s net profit too, to see whether your share of it gets you more.
How you work
What you take from the company
Salary and dividends, from your tax calculations.
The company’s net profit optional
Some lenders use your salary plus your share of the profit, which can mean a lot more if you leave money in the company.
Your share is the profit × your shareholding.
Other income optional
A job as well, a pension, benefits, maintenance or rental income.
This is a guide, not a mortgage offer. Whether you qualify, and how much you could borrow, depends on each lender’s criteria, your credit history, your outgoings, your deposit and the property. We’ll confirm a real figure with you before anything is applied for.
How lenders work it out
Three things that decide what you can borrow
Your shareholding
20% or more
Own 20% or more of the company and lenders treat you as self-employed. Under 20%, many treat you as employed and use your payslips instead.
Most lenders
Salary and dividends
The average of your last two years, or your latest year if it’s lower. It comes from your tax calculations, so it’s only what you’ve actually taken out.
Other lenders
Salary and share of profit
Your salary plus your share of the company’s net profit, usually after corporation tax. Some use profit before tax, generally at a slightly lower multiple.
Want to see if you’d qualify?
A CeMAP-qualified advisor will look at your company’s figures and tell you which lenders fit, and which way of reading your income works best. There’s no obligation.
Worth knowing
- If you leave profit in the company rather than paying it out, your share of the profit can be much higher than your dividends, and so can what you could borrow.
- If you’ve taken more in dividends than the company made, lenders may think you’re drawing on past profits and question whether it will last. A good explanation helps.
- Your company’s year end doesn’t have to match the tax year, so your accounts and your tax calculations can show different figures. Lenders sometimes ask why.
- Only one year of company accounts? Some lenders will still help. More on one year’s accounts.
A worked example
A director owning all of the company, taking a £12,570 salary and £40,000 in dividends, with £65,000 net profit after corporation tax. The same each year.
An illustration. Each lender sets its own multiples, which also depend on your loan to value, credit history and outgoings.
Need to borrow more than this shows?
If you leave profit in the business, we’ll tell you which lenders could use it, and what they’ll need to see.
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Company director mortgage questions
Am I employed or self-employed as a company director?
Do lenders use my dividends or the company’s profit?
Is that profit before or after corporation tax?
How many years of accounts do I need?
What paperwork will I need?
Talk to us about your company
Leave your name and number and a CeMAP-qualified advisor will call you back. We’ll look at your salary, dividends and profit, and tell you which lenders read them in your favour.
Darren, Beth, Ben & JakeSpecialist self-employed mortgage advisors in Poole
- Rated 5.0 from 160+ Google reviews
- Calls answered in 22 seconds on average
- Open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm