"Mortgages for self-employed people are among a range of niches we specialise in, alongside self-build, later-life and family-assist packages, and lending on unusual properties."
The mortgage features fresh criteria, including acceptance of one year's trading history and the potential for owners of established businesses to start with lower, interest-only based payments for the first 12 months.
The mortgage will be available up to 75% LTV for the newly self-employed and 80% LTV for established business owners, with a range of two and three-year deals available.
All trades and professions will be considered and the Society says people whose business has been temporarily impacted by the pandemic are welcome to apply.
The Society says its lending decisions will be made on the basis of longer-term trading track record, industry, professional qualifications and experience, and future prospects.
Recent Office for National Statistics figures suggest that the household incomes of self-employed people in the UK were significantly worse-affected than the employed, in terms of household income, due to Covid-19. Between 3 April and 30 April, 60% of self-employed workers reported a drop in income compared to 22% of the employed, due to temporary falls in business and enforced lockdown closures.
Graham Carter, head of lending at Beverley BS, commented: “As a smaller Society, our approach is based on being able to take the time to really listen to people’s whole stories and make common-sense decisions on even the most complex cases, in order to do our best to help.
“Mortgages for self-employed people are among a range of niches we specialise in, alongside self-build, later-life and family-assist packages, and lending on unusual properties.
“Essentially, we’re always keen to think outside the box and do our utmost to help, and seeing the impact this crisis has had on this vital segment of the UK economy, we just felt like we needed to step in, and came up with this new offering to do exactly that.”
