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A High Net Worth Mortgage is a specialist mortgage tailored explicitly for the needs of High Net Worth clients.

As such, there are many things an adviser is likely to need to take into account and they could even find that it’ s a completion task for a dedicated professional, as, let’ s be honest, you don’ t want to get something at that level wrong.

Your client is likely to have unusual requirements. It could be that they have overseas income, or offshore trusts and complex company structures, all of which need to be taken into account by the institution that decides to lend.

These types of clients are not seeking out an adviser on a regular basis and unless you’ re already well versed in supplying this service, you might find the whole process a little daunting.

High New Worth can be complex and generally doesn’ t fit the average high street lending parameters. Many of these lenders are geared to process large volumes of standard, straight-forward mortgages, where the parameters potentially see them using template affordability checklists, to enable admin and underwriting teams to be able to work at speed, making decisions with confidence that the case will or will not fit the requirements of the lender.

This type of borrowing requires a level of expertise and an understanding of complex income structures that could contain multiple income streams and non-standard forms of wealth.

A private bank could be the right approach as they know how to ask the questions to ensure that there is a full understanding of their requirements prior to any recommendations being made. They may also be best positioned to manage any wealth matters in later years. However, there are other solutions as detailed in the hub.

So, what do banks classify as High Net Worth?

This varies by lender, but there are rules of thumb that offer an insight...

At least one applicant must have one of the following:

1 £ 300k + annual income, or 1 £ 3m + in assets

... unless you’ re already well versed in supplying this service, you might find the whole process a little daunting

The annual income ideally needs to be net of tax, if it’ s their salary.

With the £ 3m of capital, this needs to be fairly liquid, and the assets need to be able to realise their full value reasonably quickly without a drawn-out sale or bidding process.

A stock portfolio as an asset is perfect, but a collection of rare antiques – maybe not so much.

Income or total wealth cannot be shared between a couple.

With the High Net Worth mortgages hub, we’ ve tried to take some of the pain out of the process for those looking to support this type of mortgage provision by listing the lenders that are active in this area, with broad criteria and specialists available to ensure you meet the exacting requirements of the application.

This is now available within the lending tab of your member website.

If you find you have this type of case crossing your desk, there is help and support and our helpdesk team are also available to assist in finding the institution that can support your enquiry.