Moving home on a contract income.
Moving is not a bigger version of buying your first home — it is two transactions that have to land on the same day, with a fresh affordability check underneath both. For a contractor, that check is where it either works smoothly or falls apart.
The part movers underestimate
Almost every move triggers a new affordability assessment — even if you are keeping your existing rate by porting it. That is the moment your income gets read again, potentially by a lender whose process was never built for contract income. Plenty of movers assume that having a mortgage already means the next one is a formality. It isn't.
This matters more if something has changed since you last applied. If you were employed then and are contracting now, or you have incorporated, the lender is looking at a different person on paper — see remortgaging after going limited. The fix is the same as everywhere else in contractor lending: get the case in front of a lender that applies contract-based underwriting and reads your gross day rate.
Should you port your existing deal?
Porting means carrying your current rate to the new property. It is attractive when you are locked into a good rate, or when leaving early would trigger a substantial early repayment charge.
Two things to know. First, porting is not automatic — it is a fresh application on the new property, and the lender can decline it. Second, if you need to borrow more, the additional amount is usually taken at the lender's current rates as a separate part, so you end up managing two sub-accounts with different end dates. Sometimes that is still the best outcome; sometimes moving the whole balance to a new lender is cleaner and cheaper. It is worth running both.
Borrowing more than you do now
Most movers are moving up, which means a larger loan against a more expensive property. Two levers decide how far you can go: the equity you carry over from the sale, and the income the lender will recognise.
The equity side is arithmetic. The income side is where lender choice changes the answer entirely — a lender reading minimised tax-return profit can cap you well below what a lender annualising your contract would offer. Model the difference on the contractor mortgage calculator, and check what the new payment looks like on the repayment calculator before you commit to a price bracket.
Your equity also sets your loan-to-value on the new property, and LTV bands drive the rate you are offered — so a slightly larger deposit from the sale can be worth more than it looks.
When the chain does not line up
The tidy version is a simultaneous exchange and completion: you sell and buy on the same day. When that is not possible — the purchase you want will not wait, or your buyer falls through — there are two routes worth knowing.
Bridging finance covers the gap between buying and selling. It is fast and it is expensive, priced monthly rather than annually, so it belongs to situations where the alternative is losing the property. The exit — your sale completing — has to be realistic before you take it.
Let-to-buy is the other option if you would rather keep your current home than sell it: you remortgage it onto a buy-to-let and use the released equity as the deposit on the new one. Common among contractors relocating for a contract who do not want to give up a property they like.
Estimate your borrowing
A starting figure based on your day rate, annualised over 46 weeks. Your equity from the sale sits on top of this — bring both to an adviser and we will model the actual move.
Moving home, answered
Can I take my mortgage with me when I move?+
Often yes — this is called porting. If your deal is portable and you still meet the lender's criteria, you carry the rate to the new property, which can save an early repayment charge. Porting is not automatic though: it is a fresh application on the new property, so the lender reassesses your income and the property itself.
Will moving mean a new affordability assessment?+
Yes, in almost every case — including when you port. That reassessment is where contractors get caught, because a lender using your tax-return profit rather than your contract can produce a far lower figure than the one that got you your current mortgage. The lender you move to matters as much as the rate.
What if I need to borrow more than I do now?+
Moving up usually means a larger loan. Where you port, the extra is often taken as a second part on the lender's current rates, so you end up with two sub-accounts. Where you remortgage to a new lender entirely, the whole balance is priced fresh. Which works out cheaper depends on your existing rate and any early repayment charge.
Should I sell first or buy first?+
Most movers sell and buy simultaneously, which keeps the chain intact but makes timing tight. If the purchase has to happen before the sale completes, bridging finance can cover the gap — it is fast but expensive, so it belongs to situations where the alternative is losing the property.