Gen H has launched 95% loan-to-value (LTV) loans for self-employed people and contractors with small deposits.
The lender estimates that one in 10 aspiring homeowners who are contractors or self-employed have a down payment of less than 10%.
In a 2025 survey of 500 self-employed people, Afin Bank found that 38% of respondents said their self-employed status prevented them from buying a new home, and 23% said their unpredictable income or fluctuating income was a barrier to getting a mortgage.
Generation H’s policy change aims to end their exclusion from the housing market by recognizing their track record of variable but consistent income.
Gen H sales and distribution director Sara Palmer says: “The shape of our workforce is changing, but the desire for homeownership is not. Self-employed and contract workers should have the same right to homeownership as anyone else – even with small deposits – but outdated ideas about the reliability of that income mean that too many people are still left out.”
“We have approached this exciting expansion of our policy as we do in all areas of our criteria: sensibly and cautiously, but with an eye to expanding access, not maintaining the status quo.”