Scottish Building Society has started a tailored mortgage to help Scots entrepreneurs on to the property ladder.
The new lending arrangement recognises the challenges that start-ups face in demonstrating to traditional lenders, who use automated credit scoring, that they have a regular income.
For businesses with only a one-year history looking for an 80% loan, Entrepreneur Mortgage factors in projections for the next year – as long as turnover and profit are flat or rising.
Paul Denton, Chief Executive of SBS, said: “Scotland has a vibrant community of entrepreneurs essential to the country’s economic growth. However, as they build their business, many find it hard to navigate the automated lending criteria of mainstream lenders to secure loans.
“We look at the big picture. Our underwriters treat each case individually and don’t make our decision to lend based solely on salary or dividends.
“If you’re running a company, working in partnership or even going it alone, we’ll look at the retained profit and net profit performance of the business.”
Denton said the SBS growth strategy was to focus on personalised service for customers, informed by investment in technology.
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