Half of workers with a non-pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) employment status have been held back from homeownership, according to a lender survey.
A survey by The Mortgage Lender (TML) found that out of those with non-traditional jobs, gig economy workers were the biggest group (at 70%) who believed their employment status had negatively impacted their ambitions to buy a property.
This was closely followed by contractors (68%), zero-hours contract workers (60%) and freelancers (57%), with self-employed individuals being the only group for whom this sentiment was felt by a minority (43%).
Overall, of those who have found their employment status had negatively impacted their ambitions to buy a property, 20% say it was attributed to their earnings, with a fluctuating income meaning they’ve had to push back their property ownership ambitions.
The delay has led to some house hunters renting for longer or even giving up on owning a home altogether because they’re held back by their employment status.
Sara Palmer, distribution director at TML, said: “It can be incredibly disheartening to have core life ambitions, like owning your own home, be put on hold due to your employment status. Especially as, with some lenders, this element of the lending criteria process can be a tick-box exercise when, in reality, non-traditional earners could often be making commensurate, if not higher, annual incomes than employed applicants.
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“We believe that everyone should be given equal opportunity to get on the property ladder, and this is facilitated using a case-by-case approach so applicants are seen fairly in each circumstance.”
