Remortgaging between contracts

You can remortgage between contracts — a gap in work doesn't disqualify you, but it does change which lenders fit and what evidence you'll need. Specialist lenders assess your track record and a signed forthcoming contract rather than panicking at a short break. The key is preparing the right evidence and, ideally, lining the deal up before your current rate ends so a gap never forces you onto the SVR.

Can you remortgage between contracts?

Answer first: yes, you can remortgage between contracts. A gap in work doesn’t disqualify you — it changes which lenders are the right fit and what evidence you’ll need to show. Contractors move between engagements all the time, and specialist lenders are built to assess exactly that pattern of income rather than treating every gap as a red flag.

The worry is understandable. Employed borrowers have a continuous payslip; a contractor between contracts can feel as though they have a hole in their income at the worst possible moment — just as a mortgage deal is ending. But the contractor lending market exists precisely because this is normal. The task isn’t to hide the gap; it’s to present your situation to a lender that reads it correctly.

How do lenders view a gap between contracts?

Answer first: lenders that understand contracting expect gaps and already build a buffer into how they assess your income. A reasonable, explained gap — particularly with new work lined up — is usually fine. The problem only arises if you’re placed with a lender that doesn’t understand contract work at all.

The clearest illustration is the standard way contractor income is assessed: the 46-week rule. Specialist lenders annualise your day rate over 46 weeks, not 52, deliberately baking in around six weeks a year for holidays, illness and the natural gaps between engagements. In other words, the assessment already assumes you won’t bill every week — so a normal gap is priced in rather than penalised.

What separates a manageable gap from a difficult one is context:

• A short, explained gap with new work signed is the easiest case — you have clear evidence of continuing income.
• A gap with a strong track record in the same field is usually workable, even without a signed contract yet, with the right lender.
• A long, open-ended gap with no work in sight is harder, and may mean waiting or choosing a route that doesn’t re-test your income, such as a product transfer (more below).

What evidence strengthens your case?

Answer first: the strongest single item is a signed forthcoming contract, followed by a solid history of contracts in your field and a clean record of payments on your existing mortgage. Together these show a lender your income is continuing, not ending.

Pull these together before you apply:

• A signed future contract, where you have one — the clearest proof of continuing income.
• Your contract history — previous and current contracts showing a consistent pattern of work and rates.
• Your CV or track record in the field, demonstrating you’re readily re-engaged.
• Your existing mortgage record — a clean run of payments is direct evidence you manage the loan, and it counts for you regardless of a current gap.
• Bank statements — personal and, for directors, business.

A full breakdown by contractor type is in the document checklist. Having this ready is the single biggest thing that keeps a between-contracts remortgage moving rather than stalling.

Product transfer vs remortgage when you’re between contracts

Answer first: if a fresh affordability check would be difficult during a gap, a product transfer with your existing lender can be the safe harbour — it usually involves no new income assessment. If your income evidence is strong, a remortgage to a specialist lender may secure a better deal across the market.

This is the key strategic fork. A product transfer keeps you with your current lender on a new rate, typically with no fresh affordability or credit check — which can be invaluable if your income picture is temporarily thin. The trade-off is you only see your current lender’s rates. A full remortgage opens the whole market and can read your contract income properly, but it does involve an affordability assessment, so it’s strongest when you have clear evidence of continuing income.

Neither is automatically right. The decision turns on how strong your current income evidence is and how competitive your existing lender’s transfer rate is — exactly the kind of judgement a broker makes every day.

Timing: don’t let a gap collide with your deal ending

Answer first: start your remortgage three to six months before your current deal ends — ideally while you still have a live contract — so the switch completes before any gap, and you never roll onto the standard variable rate.

The worst-case scenario is your fixed rate ending while you’re between contracts: you’d risk dropping onto the expensive standard variable rate at precisely the moment your income looks thinnest. The way to defuse that is timing. Because lenders let you lock a new rate up to six months ahead, you can arrange the switch while a contract is still live and have it complete regardless of what happens afterwards. Our guide to when to remortgage sets out the window in full.

If you’re an IT contractor, the patterns above are especially common — see IT contractors for how day-rate income is handled in that field.

Why placement matters more than the gap itself

Answer first: the gap is rarely the real obstacle — the lender is. The same between-contracts borrower can be declined by a generalist lender and approved comfortably by a specialist one, because the difference is whether the lender’s process understands contract income at all.

A high-street lender’s affordability model is built around continuous employment. Faced with a contractor’s gap, it may average income down, demand years of accounts, or simply decline — not because you’re a poor risk, but because its system can’t read your situation. A specialist lender that uses contract-based assessment sees the same facts and reaches a sensible answer. This is why a whole-of-market search is worth far more to a contractor between contracts than to an employed borrower: it’s the difference between a “no” and a competitive “yes”.

A worked timeline: remortgaging around a contract end

Answer first: the safest pattern is to start the remortgage while a contract is still live, lock the new rate, and let it complete before any gap — so the switch is secured regardless of what happens to your work afterwards.

Here’s how that plays out in practice. Say your fixed rate ends in five months and your current contract runs for three more. Starting now, while the contract is live, means your income evidence is at its strongest — a current signed contract plus your history. You apply, the lender assesses you on that live contract, and the offer is issued. Because mortgage offers typically stay valid for three to six months, the new deal can then complete the day your fixed rate ends — even if, by then, you happen to be between contracts. You’ve effectively used the strength of your in-contract position to secure a rate that protects you through any subsequent gap.

Contrast that with waiting until the fix has nearly ended: if you’re between contracts by then, your income evidence is weaker exactly when you need it, and you risk slipping onto the standard variable rate while you sort it out. The lesson is simple — act from a position of strength, early, rather than from a position of uncertainty, late.

The bottom line

A gap between contracts doesn’t stop you remortgaging — it just means choosing the right lender and bringing the right evidence. Lead with a signed forthcoming contract or a strong track record, lean on your clean mortgage history, and decide between a product transfer (a safe harbour when income evidence is thin) and a whole-of-market remortgage (better when your evidence is strong). Above all, time the switch before your current deal ends so a gap never forces you onto the SVR. To map this to your own contract dates and deal end, speak to an adviser who places between-contracts cases regularly.