Remortgaging Through the Q3 Repricing Wave with One Year of Self-Employed Accounts

The Client

Mr and Mrs T are homeowners in Kent with two children. Their home is valued at £425,000, with £218,000 outstanding on a five-year fixed rate taken out in 2021, due to end in November 2026.

Mrs T is an employed secondary school teacher earning £41,000 a year. Mr T worked as an employed electrician for eleven years before setting up as a self-employed electrical contractor in 2025. He had one year of accounts, showing a net profit of £58,000.

The Objective

• Secure a new rate before their fixed rate ended, avoiding the lender’s standard variable rate.
• Raise £30,000 for a kitchen extension, taking total borrowing to £248,000 (around 58% loan to value).
• Keep the mortgage term unchanged and monthly payments affordable on both incomes.

The Complication

Mr and Mrs T first approached us in early September 2026, as remortgage activity was surging and lenders were withdrawing and repricing products at short notice. Their fixed rate was ending in around ten weeks, so time to act was limited.

Mr T’s single year of self-employed accounts was the central issue. Most mainstream lenders ask for two years of trading history before using self-employed income, which would have left the household relying largely on Mrs T’s salary.

How We Assessed Options

We assessed three routes against the clients’ objectives before identifying the right one.

Step 1: Further advance with the existing lender

Staying with the current lender was the natural first check. A further advance would have raised the £30,000 alongside a product transfer, with minimal legal work.

However, the lender reassesses affordability on any additional borrowing and requires two full years of self-employed accounts. On Mrs T’s income alone, the further advance was declined.

Step 2: Product transfer plus separate borrowing

A product transfer was available without an affordability assessment, which would have secured a new rate on the existing £218,000. It would not, however, raise any funds for the extension.

Funding the £30,000 through an unsecured personal loan would have meant a higher rate over a much shorter term, adding several hundred pounds a month to outgoings. With the fixed rate ending and no early repayment charge, a single remortgage was a cleaner solution than layering separate borrowing on top.

Step 3: Mainstream high street remortgage

We reviewed mainstream lenders next. Most required two years of trading history, and those willing to consider a single year applied conditions that reduced the usable income or capped the loan below what was needed.

With products being withdrawn week to week during September, spending time on applications likely to be declined also risked losing access to competitive rates altogether.

Identifying the Right Route

We identified a lender within Drake’s panel that accepts one year of self-employed accounts where the applicant has worked continuously in the same trade beforehand. Mr T’s eleven years as an employed electrician met this requirement, allowing his full net profit of £58,000 to be used alongside Mrs T’s salary.

On combined income, the £248,000 remortgage loan was comfortably within the lender’s affordability limits. We secured the rate in early September, before a further round of repricing later that month, and timed completion for the day after the existing fixed rate ended to avoid any early repayment charge.