Research by broker forum, cherryplc.co.uk, has found that mortgage applications for self-employed clients and contractors are the most problematic.

A survey on the broker forum has revealed that 24% of brokers think mortgages for self-employed and contractor clients are the hardest to place, closely followed by clients with adverse credit.

18% of brokers said they had problems placing applications for clients on a low income, while 14% said that clients with payday loans proved the hardest type of case to place. Other difficult areas highlighted by brokers during the research included non-standard construction and debt consolidation cases.

Donna Hopton, director at cherry, said: “We know that the specialist mortgage market is thriving, with competitive solutions for a range of customer circumstances, yet our research shows that brokers can still struggle to place cases for common circumstances like self-employment, contract work and adverse credit.

“Fortunately the cherryplc.co.uk forum is a great place for brokers to find out information, share ideas and discuss solutions for clients, whatever their circumstances.”

Maeve Ward, commercial operations director at Central Trust, added: “Clients who are self-employed, work as contractors or have adverse credit often lack confidence in their ability to get a mortgage and brokers hold the key to these customers being able to achieve their goals.

“Any platform that enables brokers to do this by sharing their knowledge and ideas ultimately benefits the customer and so it’s great that brokers have access to do this, free of charge, on the cherryplc.co.uk forum.”