The Doorstep Divide 2026 report

The growing gap between how Britain lives and how Britain lends

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Two In Three People Believe A Variable Or Irregular Income Make It Harder To Get A Mortgage

A specialist lending report by Nottingham Building Society

The Doorstep Divide is Nottingham Building Society's specialist lending report for mortgage brokers. It focuses on creditworthy borrowers that standard lending systems struggle to read: people with variable or multiple incomes, thin or emerging credit histories, past life events, or financial stories that don't fit a straight-line template.

These borrowers are no longer on the edges of the market. Yet low confidence, unclear criteria and self-exclusion still stop many of them from applying.

Drawing on two commissioned consumer surveys, broker insight, industry interviews and real borrower experiences, the report shows who is being underserved, why viable customers don't come forward, and where better judgement, pre-application support and more flexible evidence could open the door without lowering standards.

Key findings from The Doorstep Divide 2026 report

66%

66% say people with variable or irregular incomes find it harder to get a mortgage.

60%

60% agree a temporary setback should not count against someone forever.

55%

55% of UK adults believe the bar for getting a mortgage is set too high.

32%

Only 32% of UK adults feel well informed about how to get a mortgage.

25%

A quarter of UK adults have delayed, paused, dropped out of, or decided against applying for a mortgage because of their income type or pattern.

46%

46% are not confident they could apply for a mortgage based on their circumstances today.

Nottingham Building Society, The Doorstep Divide 2026. Nationally representative survey of 2,081 UK adults and 500 mortgage brokers.

Nottingham Building Society's specialist lending solutions

The Doorstep Divide shows where the market falls short. Our propositions are how we're responding. Each one is shaped around real borrower needs, with our underwriters who look at the whole case, not just the score.

Adverse credit

If you have a client who has a credit impairment as a result of a life event, our Life Happens proposition is here to help.

Life Happens mortgages

Enhanced affordability

Our Make it Possible range combines a loan to income multiple of up to 6.5x, lending to a maximum age of 85, terms up to 50 years, and up to 75% of variable monthly income considered.

Make it Possible mortgages

Foreign nationals & expats

We know foreign nationals and expats returning to the UK find it tough to get a mortgage. So, we've ditched the restrictive criteria and built a unique proposition.

Worldwide Welcome mortgages

Sue Hayes - Chief Executive Officer

“The mortgage market has spent too long asking people to fit its shape. It is time the market changed shape to fit people. The door should be open to everyone who can walk through it. Let us build a market that opens it, and let us start now.”

Overcoming complexity to help a family secure their son’s future

Oliver Scott and his partner Louise were determined to find a home that could support the long-term needs of their autistic son, Edward. When they unexpectedly had an offer accepted on their ideal property, they faced a series of significant mortgage and funding challenges, including raising a deposit and navigating complex lending requirements. Working closely with mortgage broker Julia Barrow and Nottingham Building Society's Avril Dugdale, the family explored multiple solutions to make the purchase possible.

Read the full article

Read the full article

Broker insight into the mortgage market

Greg Cunnington, Legal & General Mortgage Services

“The traditional view of a borrower as someone with a single salary simply doesn’t reflect how people now earn.”

Lucie Read, Remoo Mortgages

“That lack of confidence can become a barrier in itself. They’re not being declined because they’ve managed credit badly; they’re being penalised because they haven’t had the opportunity to build a history yet.”

Sarah Evans, Remoo Mortgages

“Sometimes the issue isn’t eligibility. It’s awareness. People don’t always realise there may be another lender, another route, or another perspective available to them.”

Dan Maskell, Financial Planning Group

“People’s lives don’t follow neat patterns. If lenders can reflect that, you’d open up access to a lot more borrowers who are currently being overlooked.”

Katherine Stagg, Stagg Mortgage Services

“A human conversation matters more as technology rises. The best systems should help underwriters see the full picture faster, not replace the judgement needed for people whose circumstances don’t fit a box.”

Download The Doorstep Divide report

Understand where the market is falling short and where it can change.

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Frequently asked questions

The Doorstep Divide report is annual research from Nottingham Building Society measuring how open the mortgage market is to people whose lives and incomes do not fit a standard mould. It is built on a nationally representative survey of UK adults and 500 mortgage brokers, alongside real borrower stories.

Less open than many assume. Nottingham Building Society's specialist lending report found that 58% of UK adults believe non-traditional earners are judged more harshly than salaried applicants, rising to 88% among people with complex incomes who have applied.

Limited credit history is read by many lending models as risk, even for someone who has never missed a payment. The Doorstep Divide report found 71% of UK adults agree that little or no credit history makes a mortgage harder to obtain.