Career stage
Practice owner
You are the highest earner a lender will see all week, and the one its calculator handles worst. The answers here are about getting the whole business picture assessed, not just the salary line.
Reviewed byColin WallaceLast reviewed
3 parts · one incomeIllustrative proportions
The answer bank
The questions asked at this stage.
9 filed at this stage. More added as they come up.
A handful of lenders will consider your share of retained profit alongside salary and dividends, and for a practice owner that can move the borrowing figure considerably. Most lenders will not. Knowing which ones do is the whole point of asking a specialist.
It will show on your credit file and lenders will ask about it. Where it is serviced by the business rather than by you personally, some lenders will assess it that way once it is properly evidenced. Raise it early with the right paperwork and it is usually manageable.
Sometimes, but the two applications interact and the order matters. A commercial facility appearing mid-application is the kind of surprise that costs you a mortgage offer. Sequence them deliberately rather than hopefully.
Not necessarily, if it can be evidenced as genuinely non-recurring, such as equipment, a surgery fit-out or a one-off legal cost. Some lenders will add it back, others will not look past the bottom line. This is a case for a written explanation from your accountant.
They will want to see your shareholding and your share of profit in each, and they will treat overlapping directorships carefully. It is workable, but it is not something to spring on an underwriter halfway through. Set it out clearly at the start.
An overdrawn director’s loan account will be noticed and will be asked about. It is not automatically fatal, but it needs explaining alongside the accounts rather than being discovered. Lenders vary widely in how much weight they give it.
Generally neither, for residential affordability purposes. Lenders assess what you draw and, in some cases, your share of profit – not what the practice would sell for. It can still matter to the wider picture, which is worth discussing.
It adds paperwork rather than obstacles. The commercial borrowing behind it will need to be evidenced and the rental arrangement explained. Handled properly it usually sits alongside a residential application without difficulty.
There may be a fee for mortgage advice. The actual amount you pay will depend on your circumstances. Whilst the fee is up to 1% of the amount borrowed, a typical fee for working with a dentist is £749. You will be told what yours would be, in writing, before you commit to anything.
Nothing filed under that yet – ask a specialist directly.
Also in this hub
- Case studiesAnonymised cases at this stage, with the numbers.Colin to supply
- ReviewsVerified Google reviews from dentists at this stage.Colin to supply
- GuideThe stage in full, as one downloadable document.Next
- CalculatorWhat your income actually supports, before you apply.Next
- VideoAn adviser answering the questions people ask most.Later
Read next
Not quite where you are?
Careers move. The answers that matter move with them – so each stage keeps its own set rather than sharing a general one.
How it goes
- 01
A conversation
What you earn, how it actually arrives, and what you are trying to buy. No credit check at this point.
- 02
The income case
NHS contract, private work and dividends assembled into a picture an underwriter can accept, with the evidence attached.
- 03
The lender search
The panel searched on criteria as well as rate, so the application goes to a lender whose rules already fit you.
- 04
Through to completion
One adviser start to finish, with protection discussed alongside the mortgage rather than after it.
The next step
Ask for the
second opinion.
Tell us how to reach you and a specialist adviser will call back to talk through your income and what it should actually support. Your enquiry goes straight to the team.
Or call directly
0333 054 0747- A conversation first – there is no obligation to proceed.
- Bring your last two years of figures if you have them to hand.
Call me back
Four details. Nothing else needed to start.