Self-certification mortgages, also known as non-status mortgages, have shot to popularity thanks largely to changing work practices in the last couple of decades that have left a large number of people on short term or part time contracts, or dependent on bonuses for a sizeable portion of their income.

Self-certification mortgages are for people whose income is difficult to assess using the standard methods adopted by most conventional mortgage lenders.

Bonuses, commission and seasonal work can cause income to vary over time or be difficult to guarantee and this may not be considered acceptable in order to get a mainstream loan. Many customers who go on to be excellent mortgage customers with specialist lenders routinely fail credit scoring processes with mainstream lenders. While most self-certification mortgages are also available to the self-employed, they are not exclusive to them and some of the following groups also opt for this type of product:

Unsalaried company directors

Contract workers (increasingly common in technology-based industries)

Commission-based workers (often in sales, recruitment etc)

People with seasonal earnings

Those with more than one income

City workers or others who receive a high annual bonus

Employees from other sectors such as the airline industry, who have complicated systems of bonuses and allowances that make conventional documented proof of income problematic.

Borrowers on a low wage who have an inheritance fund or other family income

Freelance workers

Self-certification is the process by which the amount that a customer borrows is based on what they claim is their income as stated in a signed declaration in the application form, but where they don't have to prove it on the basis of their accounts. There is no need to supply accounts, bank statements or any other proof of income. Instead the lender will take up bank and lender references, credit checks, solicitors' confirmation of previous ownership and landlord's reference.

Sometimes it will be possible for people from within the various groups mentioned above to obtain a normal mortgage. If you have a good credit history, can show a consistent level of regular income over a number of years, have the bank statements or business accounts to prove it and can show that you are not such a high risk, then you should be able to get a conventional mortgage deal at a conventional rate of interest.