The conventional wisdom is that you need two or three years of accounts before any lender will look at you. It isn't true — it's just that the lenders who will consider a single year are fewer, and you have to know who they are. What matters most is the story behind the year: someone who left employment to do the same work self-employed presents a very different risk from someone who started a business in an unfamiliar sector.
What makes a one-year case work
- A full twelve months of trading, with accounts or an SA302 to evidence it
- Continuity — the same trade or profession you were employed in
- Relevant qualifications or a professional register entry
- A healthy deposit; the choice widens considerably below 85% loan-to-value
- Clean recent credit conduct
Continuity is the whole argument
A plumber who spent eight years employed by a firm and then went out on their own is, to a sensible underwriter, the same risk doing the same work. A lender that understands this will weigh the eight years as well as the one. Being able to evidence that history — old payslips, references, professional registration — often does more for the case than the accounts themselves.
What it's likely to cost
Expect a slightly narrower rate choice than a two- or three-year case would attract, and be prepared for more underwriting questions. Many borrowers in this position take a two-year product deliberately, then remortgage onto mainstream terms once a second and third year of accounts exist.
If waiting is the better option
Sometimes it is, and an honest adviser will say so. If you're three months from a second set of accounts and the numbers are improving, waiting may get you a materially better rate. That is a calculation worth doing rather than assuming either way.