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Self-certification mortgages now account for less than 2% of the UK mortgage market as more and more lenders have shyed away from those who cannot prove their income.

This low figure is in comparison with the self-cert market just a year ago, which accounted for 10% of the market, according to analysis from Evaluate Technologies.

Of the small amount of loans remaining, they are all fixed rate deals – all the tracker and variable deals have now been completely withdrawn – just 22 fixed rate deals remain available. This time last year, Evaluate says self-certification mortgages accounted for 6% of all fixed rate deals and 14% of variable deals sold and borrowers were able to choose from 160 self-cert loans.

And going back further to December 2007, self-cert mortgages accounted for almost 17% of the mortgage market and borrowers could choose between 381 loans.

Julie Speed, national accounts director at Evaluate Technologies, says: “The plight of the first-time buyer has been well highlighted but the self-employed have been equal victims of the shrinking mortgage market. Lenders have sought to de-risk their mortgage offering and anyone whose income is difficult to prove is by definition a higher risk customer.

“Honest, hard working self-employed people have few options to choose from and brokers face a stiff challenge finding suitable products for the self-employed.”

This is tough reading for those who rely on specialised self-cert lending – so it's important to remember that the sector is still alive and some people are still able to get self-cert loans. But of course, there are always other options for borrowers and a good adviser will be able to outline exactly what you can get hold of in this mortgage downturn.

SOURCE: Evaluate Technologies, 27/08/09

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