Beverley Building Society caters for growing gig economy workforce with new contractor mortgage offering

Beverley Building Society is to enter the contractor mortgage market, recognising the need to cater for the estimated 4.5 million UK workers now employed on a less traditional, nine-to-five basis.

With a recent survey by consultancy Britain Thinks and the University of Hertfordshire, published in the Autumn, showing that the so-called gig economy workforce has trebled in the past five years, we have enhanced our mortgage offering to cater specifically for the breed of professionals ranging from NHS workers to providers of online translation, data analytics and design services (now thought to account for almost 12 per cent of the economy), people on zero-hours contracts and those employed by a new breed of umbrella companies, for whom moving from role to role and contract to contract is a fact of life.

The Society’s new contractor offering at a glance:

Borrowers can choose from any product in the Society’s current range, depending on circumstances, up to a maximum LTV of 80%

Day 1 contracting mortgages for NHS and medical professionals with a 12-month track record of earnings in a related field

Zero-hours contract mortgages for people in professional occupations with 12 months’ history with no gaps; and non-professionals with a minimum of two years’ track record and no gaps in the last 12 months

All forms of contractors considered including Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) members, agency, nursing bank, fixed, temporary and short-term contracts, IT consultants and self-employed contractors, all considered on a case-by-case basis, from one year’s contract with evidence of track record in a related field

People employed by umbrella companies with evidence of one year’s track record in a related field

No credit-scoring: instead, the Society makes its lending decisions on a case-by case basis, backed by individual underwriting.

Simon Glass, the Society’s recently-appointed head of New Business Lending, said: “We intend this to be the first of many further enhancements to our mortgage offering, to meet the evolving needs of our customers.

“It’s an example of how we’re responding to customer and broker feedback with solutions that serve increasing demand in different segments of the market.

“The so-called ‘gig economy’ is a fact of today’s working environment which is clearly here to stay, and we believe we are perfectly placed to help the growing number of people who are either choosing, or forced, to earn a living in this kind of more flexible way.

“Our ability to take the time to review each case thoroughly, on its merits, and make common-sense lending decisions on the back of that, is perfect for these kinds of borrowers who are considered less ‘vanilla’ by bigger lenders which rely on automated, tick-box decision-making.”

Further details of the Beverley’s contractor mortgage offering, visit the Society’s dedicated intermediary section:

https://beverleybs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/BBS-contractor-mortgage-factsheet.pdf