The people other lenders call complex, we call normal

Lending criteria Find your BDM

Specialist mortgages built on better judgement

Nottingham Building Society lends across residential and the specialist mortgage market.

We believe complex income should not automatically mean a complex journey, if the income is real, sustainable, and can be evidenced.

Whether you’re a sole trader who’s become a limited company director, self-employed, a CIS worker or contractor, we’ve factored complex income into every residential range we provide. Select the proposition that suits your client’s broader circumstances, and we’ll evaluate their income in line with how they truly earn it.

Everyday Living

Our standard residential range, with criteria designed to reflect more of the ways people earn today.

Everyday Living

Life Happens

A past credit issue linked to a life event, now resolved or explainable. Adverse credit assessed in context, two tiers, up to 90% LTV.

Life Happens

Make it Possible

Up to 6.5x income, Maximum age 85, 75% of variable income & 50 year terms. Affordable on paper, but the standard calculation doesn't leave enough room.

Make it Possible

Worldwide Welcome

Overseas credit files via Nova Credit, no minimum time in the UK, no minimum visa expiry. A foreign national or returning expat with limited UK credit history or a visa.

Worldwide Welcome

Retirement interest-only

We offer retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages to help over-55s free up money in retirement. These mortgages provide an alternative to equity release, lifetime or standard-term mortgages.

RIO mortgages

The way people live and earn has changed. More borrowers now have variable income, multiple income streams, limited UK credit history, overseas financial records, life events, or affordability needs that do not fit a traditional template. Too often, those circumstances are treated as complex before they are understood as context.

They’re not rare. They’re just part of everyday modern life. Yet too often, financial services still expects people to fit assumptions built for a different era. The result is that people with perfectly normal lives are treated as exceptions.

We look at the story behind the numbers: where the income comes from, how it is evidenced, whether it is sustainable, and which lending route best reflects the main issue in the case.

Every income type. Every proposition

Complex income is the thread that connects our ranges. We look beyond the application to understand the person behind it, because sometimes their story doesn’t fit neatly into a box.

If we accept it on one we'll accept it on all seven. From agency workers, a temporary worker or receiving additional/second job income. Your clients' income is assessed the same way wherever you place the case.

Swipe across to compare propositions →

Complex income type	Everyday Living	Life Happens	Make it Possible	Worldwide Welcome	RIO	Right to Buy	Forces Help to Buy
Agency workers	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Additional /second job income	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Confirmed future employment	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Contractually agreed future pay rises	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Fixed term contract workers	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Manual assessment of complex self employed cases	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Most recent year's self employed income used	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Rolling contract workers	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
SIPP drawdown income (4% of pot)	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Temporary worker	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Universal Credit	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted
Zero hours contract workers	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted	Accepted

Complex income assessment criteria by mortgage proposition

The mortgage market doesn't need to take more risk. It needs to make better judgements.

The gap - Our Doorstep Divide research shows how many credible borrowers are discouraged or lost before their circumstances are properly reviewed.
Why it exists - Income is where working life, credit history, residency and life events first show up in a case, and templates read it badly.
Nottingham Building Society's response - One connected set of ranges, with complex income as the thread and better evidence, clearer criteria and human judgement behind every decision.

Real-world scenarios showing how Nottingham Building Society could help borrowers with "complex" income.

Ahmed 34 - Software Engineer

Agency worker with under six months left on a visa. Five years in the UK, three of them contracting through the same agency, and a visa date that makes most lenders hesitate.

Read Ahmed's case

Chris, 45 - Warehouse Supervisor

Remortgage with historic adverse credit and multiple income sources. A rough patch left marks on his credit file. Now he's back on full hours, with a second job and Universal Credit in the mix, and wants to get his outgoings under control. .

Read Chris's case

Sophie, 34 - HR business partner

Mortgage with recent arrears and a new job not yet started. A separation, a few slipped payments, and a permanent role that hasn't paid her yet.

Read Sophie's case

Rebecca, 29 - Project Manager

6.5x income using a pending pay rise and second job income. Her earning power is real. It just hasn't reached her payslips yet.

Read Rebbeca's case

Raj, 34 - Senior Software Engineer

Mortgage for a client new to the UK whose permanent job hasn't started Newly arrived from India, a signed £92,000 contract, no UK credit file and six weeks until day one. See how we built the picture from overseas credit history and a confirmed role.

Read Raj's case

If a case makes sense but doesn't fit, let's talk it through.

If your client's income is genuine, sustainable and can be evidenced, we want to hear about it, even if it doesn't tick every criteria box. Pick up the phone and we'll work through it with you.

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