Jessica O'Connor50% of non-traditional workers have found their employment status has negatively impacted their ambitions to buy a property in some way, according to research from The Mortgage Lender (TML).
Gig economy workers were the biggest group to believe their employment status had negatively impacted their ambitions to buy a property at 70%.
This was closely followed by contractors (68%), zero-hour contract workers (60%) and freelancers (57%), with self-employed individuals being the only group where this sentiment was felt by a minority (43%).
Overall, of those who found their employment status negatively impacted their ambitions to buy a property, 20% said it was attributed to fluctuating earnings.
This delay meant individuals were required to rent for longer than they wanted (15%) and even have had to consider abandoning their home ownership ambitions altogether (17%).
A significant concern for non-traditional workers was obtaining a mortgage, with 17% worrying they would not be able to get one at all and 4% believing they would not qualify to remortgage.
Affordability was another roadblock, with 13% expressing worry about the cost of moving.
In more drastic circumstances, 13% had to consider moving abroad to get on the property ladder where home ownership would be more feasible than in the UK.
Sara Palmer, distribution director at The Mortgage Lender, said: “It can be incredibly disheartening to have core life ambitions, like owning your own home, be put on hold due to your employment status.
“Especially, as with some lenders, this element of the lending criteria process can be a tick box exercise when, in reality, non-traditional earners could often be making commensurate, if not higher, annual incomes than employed applicants.
“We believe that everyone should be given equal opportunity to get on the property ladder, and this is facilitated using a case-by-case approach so applicants are seen fairly in each circumstance.”
She added: “As a real life lender, we’re committed wherever possible to ensuring that borrowing is accessible and appropriate to each individual.
“Unique circumstances should not be a barrier to achieving homeownership and property goals.”
