Kensington contractor & self-employed mortgages
Kensington is a specialist lender built around the borrowers mainstream banks find hardest — the self-employed and those with complex or non-standard income. It underwrites by hand, not by automated scorecard.
Can a contractor get a Kensington mortgage?
Yes — and it is built for exactly this. Kensington specialises in income that doesn't fit a standard template, so contract earnings are its normal business rather than an exception it has to accommodate.
Kensington is a specialist (non-high-street) lender, founded in 1995 and based in Maidenhead, and has been owned by Barclays since 2023 — giving it specialist underwriting with the backing of a major bank. Its products are placed through brokers.
How Kensington approaches complex contractor cases
Kensington’s appeal is manual underwriting: a real person weighs the whole picture rather than a system rejecting you on a single rule. That makes it valuable when your case needs explaining — a recent switch to contracting, a blip on file, or income from more than one source. The trade-off is that specialist lending is usually priced a little above the high street.
One year contracting, a tidy-up on file
History: a resolved credit blip
High-street outcome: often declined → specialist: case considered
Illustrative. The specialist assessment basis is confirmed at application.
Do contractors pay a higher rate with Kensington?
As a specialist, Kensington can price above the high street, because its criteria go where mainstream lenders will not. Whether that trade is worth making depends on whether a mainstream lender would in fact lend you what you need — the comparison we run before recommending anything.
Kensington or the high street?
Try the mainstream first if you qualify — lenders like Halifax are cheaper for clean profiles. Turn to Kensington when you don’t fit the standard box: limited history, complex income, or a credit issue. We place you on the high street where we can, and use a specialist only when it genuinely helps.
A note on criteria
Kensington's criteria are built for complex income, but the specifics — multiples, minimum day rates or trading history, the contract types accepted — remain the lender's own and are revised regularly. Third-hand accounts of them are unreliable. We confirm the current position for your circumstances rather than quoting figures we cannot guarantee.
Smart Mortgage Solutions is an independent broker covering the whole of market. We are not affiliated with Kensington Mortgages, nor endorsed by it; it is named because it is a lender we can place cases with. Criteria change and are confirmed at application.
Lenders we work with — a selection
Lender guides: Halifax · Barclays · HSBC · NatWest · Nationwide · Accord · Clydesdale · Yorkshire BS · Kensington See how we place cases →
Kensington contractor mortgages, answered
Is Kensington good for self-employed mortgages?+
Yes — and Kensington's whole proposition is built around income that doesn't fit a standard template, which is precisely the position most contractors are in. It is a specialist rather than a high-street name, so it is usually compared on criteria and flexibility rather than purely on price.
Can Kensington help after a credit problem?+
It is generally more comfortable with these than a high-street bank, because complex and non-standard income is its specialism. The treatment still differs from limited-company contracting and is confirmed at application.
Does Kensington accept one year of accounts or a new contract?+
Yes, where criteria fit — assessing income from the contract rather than the accounts is central to how a specialist lender operates. The multiple and any minimums are confirmed at submission.
Are Kensington’s rates higher than a bank’s?+
Specialist lending can price higher than the high street, because the criteria are more accommodating. Whether that trade-off is worth it depends on whether a mainstream lender would actually lend you what you need — which is exactly the comparison we run before recommending anything.
Is Kensington owned by Barclays?+
Kensington lends through intermediaries, so a broker is how the case reaches it. That is an advantage: the income is packaged for the underwriter, and Kensington is compared against mainstream options rather than being chosen by default.