Requiring years of essential study and a huge personal commitment, qualifying as Doctor is no mean feat. One of the rewards for years of hard work should be financial security, and the ability to secure a mortgage. Unfortunately, many doctors find this is not the case.
Doctors may struggle to secure a mortgage because they are often paid in unconventional ways. High street banks and building societies are more comfortable with lending to those with a clear and recognisable income structure because it enables them to accurately assess the risk. High street lenders are less likely to understand and therefore lend against income structures with many variances.
Doctors’ contracts are more complicated than traditional PAYE employees. GPs, for example, might be salaried employees of a primary care organisation—but practice partners qualify as self-employed workers. Despite being in a position with excellent job stability, being self-employed still makes it more challenging to get a mortgage. Without two years of accounts, securing finance can be very difficult.
Within the profession, there are fairly wide discrepancies between what different types of doctors are paid; speciality doctors can earn anywhere from £37,000 to £70,000, whilst GPs can expect to earn in the range of £50,000 to £85,000. However, the main problem is how much an individual doctor can vary from their expected basic within a year.
There is huge scope for taking on extra responsibilities such as educational training or management positions. And if your mortgage is being calculated from your basic hours, this is also unlikely to represent the actuality of your earnings. Doctors can often end up working a significant amount of overtime and are also liable for enhanced pay for working nights, weekends, and being on-call.
And for doctors in training schemes, who are earning but moving post every six months to gain exposure to different medical areas, it can be almost impossible to secure a mortgage with a transient working history.
So how can a doctor get a mortgage?
Rejected applications will be noted on your credit record which can damage your chance of future success, so it’s important to approach this carefully. This is where using a brokerage such as Enness can make the process significantly easier, and increase your likelihood of being accepted.
As many of our clients have unusual income structures, bonus-based incomes or are paid in such a way that their accountant’s records do not accurately represent their wealth, we are well versed in dealing with complicated applications. We are experts in presenting these to the appropriate lender in such a way to increase the likelihood of the application being accepted. If you’re a doctor currently looking to arrange a mortgage, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will work with you to secure a mortgage.
