The Intermediary – August 2025 - Flipbook - Page 9
RESIDENTIAL
Opinion
Lending that
knits into real-life
working patterns
T
he UK labour market
is no longer defined
by the nine-to-five.
From public sector shi
workers to university
lecturers and contractbased professionals, working paerns
are increasingly fluid. While the job
may be constant, the way it’s delivered
and remunerated oen isn’t.
This isn’t a new trend. Health and
social care workers have long relied
on flexible schedules, from core
contracted hours to top-up shis
known as bank work. In higher
education, academics routinely
blend salaried teaching with
consultancy, examining duties or
research fellowships. For brokers, this
creates a growing client base whose
income can be steady in total but
complicated in form.
Lending knowledge
A payslip with five components
shouldn’t raise flags if those
components are consistent, proven
and part of the professional role. Shi
allowances, night duty payments,
overtime and bonuses may not be
classed as ‘basic salary’, but they
are expected, and in many cases
contractual.
Many clients in the public sector
are doing vital, high-demand work.
Their earnings may fluctuate slightly,
but their profession does not. For
lenders, the real challenge isn’t risk.
It’s recognition.
Standardised lending models oen
fail to account for this. A teacher
working regular overtime for aerschool tuition, a police officer rotating
between day and night shis, or
a nurse topping up with weekend
bank hours aren’t outliers. They’re
examples of how the world of work
really functions. The potential clients
being turned away are those who
power the nation’s infrastructure.
Where a track record exists of
typically six months or more, there
is lile justification for excluding
these income elements. In fact, failing
to do so can unfairly penalise some
of the most stable and employable
individuals in the market.
Allowances, overtime, shi uplis,
and income from bank or locum work
are the norm in professions such as
midwifery or firefighting.
There’s also a need for flexibility
around contract types. Many bank
workers are technically on zero-hours
arrangements, yet work as frequently
and earn as much as full-time
peers. The distinction is technical,
not financial. With many NHS
departments advertising shis well in
advance, the income can be consistent,
even predictable.
It’s important that lenders can
distinguish between gig economy
unpredictability and structured,
professional flexibility. The former
might carry risk. The laer does
not. Especially when underpinned
by professional registration, skills
shortages and public funding.
A global view
Another area to consider when
working with these clients is whether
a lender can accept applications from
overseas customers. Skilled worker
visa holders and those on ancestry or
British National Overseas (BNO) visas
are critical to staffing key sectors like
education and healthcare. Provided
they have a right to reside and a
proven employment record, their
applications warrant the same level
of consideration.
It maers that underwriting teams
have the experience and training to
understand these sectors. Manual
CHRISTOPHER BLEWITT
is head of mortgage distribution
at Darlington Building Society
underwriting, collaboration with
broker-facing teams, and internal
training can all contribute to beer
decision-making. It’s not about
making exceptions. It’s about
building policy around how modern
professional life actually works.
A lender’s role isn’t to standardise
borrowers. It’s to make intelligent,
case-by-case decisions. It’s important
they look beyond the contract type or
payslip format and understand what
the income really represents.
The broker partnership
This approach ultimately benefits
brokers. It extends the product options
available for clients who might
otherwise be underserved. It enables
cases to be placed more smoothly and
more oen. It helps to build long-term
relationships with clients who value
understanding over box-ticking.
Key workers and other professionals
remember the lenders and brokers
who treated them fairly and offered
them choice. Particularly when
they’ve experienced rejection
elsewhere. A wider product
armoury today builds the client bank
of tomorrow.
In a market where real-world
understanding is in short supply,
brokers who work with lenders
willing to go further can position
themselves not only as solutionfinders but as advocates. That’s where
progress lies. Not in relaxing risk
criteria, but in recognising that some
of the UK’s most valued professionals
don’t fit neatly into a standard
model. They work differently, earn
differently and deserve to be assessed
accordingly. ●
August 2025 | The Intermediary
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