There’s a small group of subby-friendly mortgage lenders that accept CIS payslips.
Apply for a mortgage with one of these lenders, and you could borrow more because they’ll calculate the maximum amount you can borrow based on your full turnover.
Apply for a mortgage elsewhere, and you could be limited to how much you can borrow.
Why? Because most lenders will calculate the amount you can borrow based on your sole-trader profit on your tax return.
That includes electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and masons who build, install systems, and finish interiors; plus heavy equipment operators, labourers, roofers, painters, ironworkers, and managers who oversee projects.
All that hard work, and the final number looks smaller than it should—because you’ve cleverly offset expenses to pay less tax, but that means your income looks significantly smaller on a mortgage application.
That could be a problem because mortgage lenders look at your income to decide how much you can afford to borrow—usually, the smaller the income, the smaller the mortgage.
We know the subby-friendly mortgage lenders that accept income paid through the CIS.
The Construction Industry Scheme gives eligible sole traders a way to show their real income (before tax and expenses are deducted) to mortgage lenders.
You are likely to be paid through the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) if a contractor deducts 20% of your pay in advance for HMRC.
Another way to check whether you’re paid through CIS is to check if you’ve received a payment and deduction statement (or “CIS voucher”). You should receive one within 14 days of the end of each tax month, usually via email, post or by hand on site.
These statements provide essential legal proof of tax deductions, which are used for your self-assessment tax returns.
