Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to improve the access of self-employed people to a mortgage.

The Government is committed to increasing competition in banking and creating an environment in which firms compete to offer a range of products that suit the varying needs of their customers.

The independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules do not prevent self-employed customers from getting a mortgage. The FCA’s rules recognise that lenders should have flexibility to decide what evidence of income they can accept from self-employed customers for the purposes of an affordability assessment.

There are a wide variety of mortgage products available in the UK and lender’s policies will vary so self-employed customers may benefit from shopping around.