Can I get a mortgage as a self-employed sole trader with 1 year of accounts?

Yes — in 2026 a handful of UK lenders including Halifax, Kensington, Kent Reliance and Clydesdale will lend against one full year of filed self-employed accounts, but most mainstream banks still require two years, and 1-year deals typically cap at 85% LTV with a 0.1–0.3 percentage point rate premium.

Why do most lenders still want two years?

Because self-employment income is variable by definition, and the Basel-era lender affordability models were built around multi-year averages. With one year of filed accounts the lender has no trend line — they don’t know if your £48,000 profit is the low end of a rising business or the high end of a one-off year. Two years gives them a sanity check; three lets them spot which direction the line is pointing.

That said, the post-pandemic decade has taught the market that plenty of self-employed applicants are structurally low-risk — former employees moving to freelancing, for example, or professionals with a clear pipeline. Around a dozen UK lenders now have explicit 1-year-accounts routes for this group.

Which lenders accept 1 year of accounts?

Lender	Who they’ll accept on 1 year	Typical conditions
Halifax	Sole trader with previous PAYE in same line of work	Full SA302 + tax-year overview; 85% LTV max
Clydesdale / Virgin Money	Sole trader or Ltd director	1 year filed accounts; 85% LTV
Kensington	Sole trader, contractor, director	Manual underwriting; 85% LTV
Kent Reliance	Sole trader or Ltd director	Specialist product; 85% LTV
Saffron Building Society	Sole trader	Manual assessment; 80% LTV
Aldermore	Sole trader or Ltd director	85% LTV; mild rate premium

Mainstream lenders still requiring two full years: Nationwide, Santander, HSBC (most products), Barclays, NatWest, Coventry BS. Some offer 18 months if the most recent year’s SA302 is filed and the previous 12 months were employed in the same field.

An SA302 and tax-year overview printed alongside business bank statements and a laptop — One-year self-employed mortgages are a small part of the market but a live option at 85% LTV.

What paperwork do you actually need?

The gold-standard document set for a 1-year self-employed application:

HMRC SA302 for the most recent tax year (the formal tax calculation).
Tax-year overview for the same year (the “paid” confirmation).
3 months personal bank statements, 3 months business bank statements.
CV or portfolio showing continuity from previous PAYE employment.
Client contracts or invoices for the next 6–12 months, especially for contractors.
Accountant’s certificate if you use an ACCA/ICAEW/ACA/CIMA-qualified accountant — some lenders prefer this over the SA302 for consistency.

Software exports from FreeAgent, QuickBooks or Xero alone are usually not accepted. Lenders want the HMRC-filed figures on an SA302, not management accounts.

How affordability gets calculated

For a sole trader on 1 year:

Lender takes the net profit from the SA302 (not turnover).
Some apply a small haircut (Halifax uses 100% of profit; Kent Reliance averages against business trend where possible).
Multiplied by the income multiple — typically 4.49–4.75× at 85% LTV.
Credit commitments, student loans and dependants deducted per normal affordability rules.

Worked example: £62,000 net profit sole trader, 1 year of accounts, 15% deposit. Halifax at 4.75× gives a £294,500 loan ceiling, supporting a ~£346,000 house. Nationwide (requiring 2 years) wouldn’t even price it.

For limited-company directors, the picture is different — see our separate answer on salary vs dividends vs net profit.

What catches people out

Tax efficiency works against you. Drawing down profits to minimise tax also minimises the income lenders see. If you’re planning to apply in the next 18 months, consider drawing a higher salary/profit to match.
Mid-year applications need a projection. If you apply in September but your last SA302 covers the tax year ending April, the lender sees 17-month-old data. Some request accountant-prepared projections for the stub period.
Changing business structure. Moving sole trader → Ltd mid-year resets the clock at some lenders. Kent Reliance and Kensington will often treat continuous trading as continuous; Halifax may not.
85% LTV cap is a soft ceiling. Above 85% (so with less than 15% deposit) your lender pool thins dramatically on 1-year accounts. At 90% LTV, expect most to require 2 years.

The misconception worth flagging

“I’ve been self-employed for 3 years, so I’m fine.” Not necessarily — what lenders want is 1 or 2 full tax years of filed accounts. If you started trading in June 2024 and apply in May 2026, you may have two years of trading but only one tax year of SA302s (2024/25), because the 2025/26 return isn’t due until January 2027. Time your application to sit just after your SA302 has been filed and accepted by HMRC, and you’ll get more lenders and better rates.

Run the numbers with our affordability calculator and, if your case is marginal, use a whole-of-market broker — self-employed applications rely heavily on knowing which lender’s criteria fits your exact structure. This is information, not regulated advice.