Are self certified mortgages coming to an end?

Self certified mortgages (or self cert morgages or self certification mortgages) have been in existence for a while now. Their purpose was to give mortgage applicants the chance to declare their income (to self certify) without having to provide figures to support the claim. The lender did not require proof. Obviously, such applicants represented a greater risk than a standard borrower, and, as a result, self cert mortgages came with higher rates of interest.

Self certified mortages were not designed to enable borrowers to obtain larger loans by inflating their incomes. They were put in place to allow those applicants - usually freelancers or the self-employed - to have a chance of actually obtaining a mortgage.

Unfortunately the system was often abused. With the rising propety prices over the last decade, people have obtained massive self certified mortgages. This is not a problem when house prices are still rising, but now that the property market is slumping, it presents severe difficulties.

As a result of the credit crunch, there only exist a few self certified mortgage lenders, when once there were twenty or more. Those being accepted for self cert mortgages in today's economic climate are the ones with a perfect credit rating and a considerable deposit. And even if you possess those attributes, you will discover that the interest rate for self certified mortgages is exceptionally high