More than one in five (22%) non-traditional workers have never tried to get a mortgage, research from The Mortgage Lender (TML) has revealed.
The research among 2,000 non-traditional workers, including self-employed workers, freelancers and gig economy workers, found that 25% of those who had never tried to get a mortgage had assumed they would be rejected.
18% of these respondents also never applied for a mortgage because they had heard it was more challenging for those who were self-employed.
Lack of awareness of the mortgage process was a roadblock for non-traditional workers as well, with one in 10 saying they found the process too daunting.
Similarly, 10% said they did not know how to apply for a mortgage in the first place, while 8% did not know who to speak to about getting one.
A further 8% said their business was under two years old, and therefore that they would not have the right documentation to be approved.
There were also more traditional reasons why people may have not applied for a mortgage, including not having built up their deposit yet (36%).
Others were waiting for interest rates to come down (14%), while 3% had waited until after the General Election to move forward with their plans, and 4% needed some form of support, such as Shared Ownership.
15% of respondents preferred the flexibility of renting, while some were not ready for the responsibility that comes with owning a house (13%) or were dissuaded from the process due to friends or colleagues having a bad experience (7%). 9% were saving for other things first.
Sara Palmer, distribution director at The Mortgage Lender, said: “We as an industry must deconstruct these ideas around the mortgage application process and make it more accessible to non-traditional and self-employed workers.
“Many of these individuals could be great candidates for a lender, but all too often the complexities around the process for self-employed individuals is putting them off from even trying.
“As a lender for real-life people, we are continuously revising and updating our services to provide the best possible support for our customers, which also includes giving non-PAYE workers the assurance that their career should not be a barrier to them reaching their property goals.
“These are individuals that are offering vital contributions to the UK economy, and it’s important that we, as a lender, can support them and offer them a smooth service comparable to more traditionally employed people.”
