Contractor Mortgages - New to Contracting

[cojak]

This was put in the wrong forum.

Hey all, I'll preface this by saying I did a search of the forums and couldn't find anything quite matching my situation so I thought I'd make a new post to ask.


Basically, I am due to start a new fixed term contract in June for 12 months. I'm pretty new to contracting, so what is the likelihood of me getting a mortgage off the get go or within 3-6 months? Are there any specialist website/brokers that deal with my situation. Specifically with getting help to buy equity loan mortgage which is another added layer of complexity on top of the contractor one.

Most of my googling leads to me to believe that the majority of lenders will require 12-24 months prior working history with no gaps. The only issue is that I've just come off the back of a (voluntary) 12 month gap so I could I have time to focus on finishing my PhD in my final year (though there was a short 4 month contract stint in between).

Before that, I was employed continuously for 3 years in a non-contract role which I did alongside my PhD.

The help to buy equity loan scheme ends next year in March so if I wanted to be a part of that I can't afford to spend a year gaining the history lenders require...

I've been working in the same data science field the entire time if it helps.

My work history is below

2018 May - 2021 May (Part time Data Scientist)
2021 Oct - 2022 Jan (Contract Data Scientist)
2022 Jun - 2023 Jun (Contract Data Scientist)

The above all happened concurrently alongside the PhD which just ended this month. I know in some scenarios a PhD researcher is considered an occupation so it might be a valid cover for my work history gaps since I do get a paid stipend.

I'm pretty sure I have good prospects and securing future good jobs will be no problem - I received 4 offers this time round before I ended up accepting one at a FAANG big tech company.

Any advice welcome!

[Lance]

FTC = a job..... You are NOT a contractor as far as a mortgage application goes.

So once you have 3 months of pay slips, and a deposit. you are good to go.
You are simply a recently qualified post-graduate with a new job.

[northernladuk]

Call Freelance Financials. The deal specifically with non standard contractor type mortgages. As Lance says FTC is employment but Freelance will still be able to help find a product that will accept the complexities of your situation.

[Guy Incognito]

I have always used Halifax directly. They have only ever asked me for evidence of a 6 month contract, even if it only had days left to run.