The self-employed face an extra hurdle when it comes to finding a mortgage. Photo: Getty
Less than 4pc of new first-time-buyer mortgages in 2023 went to self-employed people, with salaried employees accounting for almost all successful applicants, data from the Central Bank (CBI) indicates.
First-time buyers on salaries commanded 96.3pc of new mortgages in 2023, little changed from a proportion of 96.9pc in 2022.
While the CBI doesn’t specify that these unsalaried borrowers are self-employed, a Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland spokesperson said the statistics suggest the remainder may include “contract” and “self-employed” workers, as well as buyers who are “in education” or “retired”.
The implied share of mortgages given to self-employed workers and other non-salaried borrowers is much higher when buying a second or subsequent home.
In fact, 8.1pc of approved loans for such properties were from this cohort in 2023, up from 7.3pc a year earlier.
