Mortgage for Company Director on PAYE

What documents do I need to prepare?

As a limited company director, it will depend on your shareholding in the business. If you’re a director of the business, but only a 5% shareholder, a lender wouldn’t want to see proof from the business itself. They would just take PAYE salary.

If you are a larger shareholder of the business, they’d want to see the documents you put through to HMRC – your tax calculations and tax year overviews – for either one year or two years. Alternatively, they would want to see your finalised company accounts and calculate the affordability based on those.

Other documents would be the same as any other application, such as your proof of ID and proof of address. You would also need recent bank statements, proof of deposit and details of any credit commitments.

Can I get a mortgage as a company director on PAYE if my accountant is working to maximise profits in my business for tax purposes?

As mortgage brokers, we just go off the finalised accounts, regardless of what the accountant has put through. We just get the accounts at the end of the year and those are the numbers we use in the application to the lender.

Obviously, the whole purpose of running a business is to maximise profit, so it goes hand in hand with the process.

How much can I borrow and what deposit will I need?

This is the all-important question, and the answer decides whether you get that two-bedroom flat or a nice four-bedroom house with a garden.

Affordability is solely based on the income you can document. So for a limited company director, there are different variances, depending on your shareholding and how long you’ve run the business for.

If you are a very small shareholder, generally below 25% or 20% with some lenders, you may just be able to use the salary you’ve received. Anything over that puts you in a position where your net profits or the dividends you’ve taken will be looked at, depending on the lender.

Can I get a Buy to Let mortgage as a company director on PAYE?

If you’re looking at applying for a Buy to Let mortgage as a limited company director getting a PAYE salary, most lenders require a minimum income.

A typical example is that you need to earn £20,000 or £25,000 a year – although some lenders don’t need any minimum income at all. If you can document that income from your payslips or tax returns, that’s fine.

Most of the affordability for Buy to Let mortgages are solely based on the rental income from the property. As long as the rental income stacks up in comparison to what you’re buying, and your credit’s okay, there’s usually not too much issue for a limited company director.

How does bad credit affect me getting a mortgage as a company director on PAYE?

If you’ve had credit issues in the past as a limited company director and you want a mortgage, it’s not impossible. It can potentially limit your options, though, and the options may be more expensive.

That said, a bad credit issue from three or four years ago will have a much lower impact than a missed payment within the last two months.

On top of that, the bigger the deposit you’ve got, the lower risk you are to a lender. A 5% deposit and recent missed payments will put restrictions on the lenders you can use.

It’s still doable with bad credit as a limited company director, but it could be more expensive, and potentially you may need a bigger deposit.

How does remortgaging work as a company director on PAYE?

The process isn’t dissimilar from a normal employed remortgage. Our advice for everybody looking at remortgaging is to start having conversations with your broker or bank at least six months prior to your current rate ending.

The main reason is that some applications can potentially take two or three months to go through. If you leave it too late, you may struggle to get it done in time and end up on the standard variable rate once your fixed rate has expired. If that happens, your payments will jump up in the short-term until the remortgage is finished.

How can a mortgage broker help here? Have you got anything else you’d like to add?

When you’re looking at applying for mortgages with slightly complex income, there are more restrictions. For example, only a handful of lenders will take your director’s salary and business net profits.

If you’re trying to do this yourself, you may potentially be declined, or be offered a smaller mortgage than you could achieve elsewhere – just because that particular lender’s criteria isn’t geared up for limited company directors.

Our advice is to speak to someone with experience in this. The majority of high street banks will just kick the application back or reduce how much you can borrow.

MOST BUY TO LET MORTGAGES ARE NOT REGULATED BY THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY.

FOR SPECIALIST TAX ADVICE, PLEASE REFER TO AN ACCOUNTANT OR TAX SPECIALIST.

Approved by The Openwork Partnership on 08/07/2025.