Employment status holding non-traditional workers back from home ownership
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
50% of ‘non-traditional workers’ have found their employment status has negatively impacted their ambitions to buy a property in some way, according to research from The Mortgage Lender (TML).
Out of those with non-traditional jobs, gig economy workers are the biggest group that believe their employment status has negatively impacted their ambitions to buy a property (70%). This is closely followed by contractors (68%) , zero-hour contract workers (60%) and freelancers (57%) , with self-employed individuals being the only group where this sentiment was felt by a minority (43%) .
Overall, of those who have found their employment status has 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.
This delay has meant individuals were required to rent for longer than they’d have liked (15% ) and even have had to consider abandoning their home ownership ambitions altogether because of the negative impact of their employment status (17% ).
A significant concern for non-traditional workers is obtaining a mortgage, with 17% worrying they wouldn’t be able to get one at all and 4% believing they wouldn’t qualify to remortgage because of their job. Affordability is another roadblock, with 13% expressing worry about the cost of moving.
In more drastic circumstances, 13% have had to consider moving abroad to get on the property ladder where home ownership would be more feasible than in the UK.
Sara Palmer, Distribution Director at The Mortgage Lender, comments: “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. 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.
“As a real life lender, we’re committed wherever possible to ensuring that borrowing is accessible and appropriate to each individual. Unique circumstances should not be a barrier to achieving homeownership and property goals.
Methodology
Research undertaken on behalf of The Mortgage Lender (TML) by Censuswide amongst 2000 ‘non-PAYE’ workers, including 1264 self-employed workers, 324 freelancers, 152 zero hour contract workers, and 102 gig economy workers. Fieldwork completed between 28th June 2024 and the 8th July 2024.