I work part time, can I get a mortgage?

There is a common acceptance that a mortgage isn’t possible when in part-time work. 

However that’s simply not the case; preparation is the key here. Saving for a deposit is key towards making sure your probability towards owning a property is as high as can be.

Regardless of it consisting of full-time or part-time hours, a job shows consistency and an example of paying bills on time, alongside keeping any debt in check with repayments and strengthening the credit rating.

In recent years, lenders have been willing to grant mortgages from those in part-time work, due to the ever-changing world of the job market.

With that, here’s what can help strengthen your chances in obtaining a mortgage when in part-time work.

A mortgage in a part-time career

When stripped down to its foundations, a mortgage is a loan that is agreed between two parties; the homeowner and the lender. It is agreed in principle and the confidence that it will be paid back within a certain amount of years.

Someone who has been in the same part-time job for the last five years will be in good standing for lenders; it gives them confidence already that the mortgage will be able to be paid back in good time.

A common understanding from lenders is that someone should be in part-time work from six months at the minimum to be considered for a mortgage.

However, there are other pertinent factors that will be asked by lenders to help give confidence to them for the mortgage.

The main factors in what a lender wants to know can be the following:

• What kind of part-time job is it?
• How long have you had the part-time job for?
• What type of contract does the part-time job entail?
• What is your current credit score?
• How much mortgage deposit have you saved up so far?

The other points will all relate to the part-time job. They will want to see proof of you being in a job for as long as you have stated. Bring the contract for when you first started, and bring pay-slips from the last few years to prove that you have indeed been at the job part-time.

Finally, the credit score will be a factor in seeing how many credit agreements you have agreed to, such as phone contracts, and they can judge, based on the repayments on how many payments may have been missed.

Being in part-time work may raise questions that the lender will want reassurance of. Mainly the question of ‘why’.

If it is because of family reasons or simply a good balance of personal and work life, then share this with your mortgage adviser and lender. They will keep everything in mind when it comes to the final decision, but as long as there are proofs of consistent part-time work, with steady income and a deposit saved, the foundations towards a mortgage will keep you in good stead.