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If you thought life was tough for first-time buyers, spare a thought for self-employed people, freelances and contract workers who are finding themselves frozen out of the mortgage market.
Two key providers of "self-certification" home loans - for people who find it difficult to prove their income - stopped offering such deals a few days ago. At least 20 lenders have withdrawn from the self-cert market in the past year, leaving only two of significance: Nationwide's specialist arm, The Mortgage Works, and Platform, a division of rival society Britannia.
But the rates can be far from great - Platform's self-cert level starts at 7.19% - and to get a mortgage from one of these two firms, you will need to stump up a deposit of between 25% and 35% of the property's value.
Self-cert home loans have been hugely controversial. They have been dubbed "liar loans" and been mis-sold by some firms.
But there are many honest people out there - from those who have started up their own business to IT contractors, freelance journalists and the like - whose income doesn't fit the standard pattern, and who may find themselves turning to a self-cert mortgage to finance their purchase. These deals allow people to self-certify their income without having to supply documentation such as payslips.
Eight days ago, leading self-cert lenders BM Solutions and Bank of Scotland pulled out of the market. Ray Boulger at mortgage broker John Charcol says this is bound to put pressure on the remaining players.
Self-cert home loans used to be available for up to 90% of a property's value - 95% in one or two cases - but now the most you can get is 75%, from Platform. At The Mortgage Works, the maximum loan-to-value is 65%, though its self-cert rates start at 5.39%. Boulger says some companies will only lend on a self-cert basis to those who are self-employed, which means employees who also have some 'self-employed' income (for example, a teacher at a school who does extra paid work at weekends), and would want this taken into account when applying for a mortgage, may find it tricky to get a deal.
David Hollingworth at broker London & Country says that, where possible, it will try to find the customer a normal mainstream mortgage. "We would say [to a client], 'what evidence do you have of that income?'"
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