More than 1.6 million people work in adult social care in England, and a good number of them have been told by one lender or another that their income “doesn’t fit”. That’s usually a lender problem, not a you problem. I compare mortgages across 120+ lenders, including specialist lenders who understand care sector pay structures, and we’ll tell you honestly where you stand before you apply anywhere.
HTG Mortgages
Mortgages for Care Workers
Last Updated: August 2026
Featured in The Telegraph • Daily Mail • The Times • Sky News
If you work in care, whether that’s residential, domiciliary or supported living, your income can look complicated on paper even when it’s perfectly steady in real life. Zero-hours contracts, shifts split across more than one care provider and regular overtime all confuse a standard mortgage calculator. We look at your income the way you actually earn it, not the way an application form expects it, and we’ll tell you honestly what you can borrow before anything touches your credit file.
Lenders who will count income from more than one care employer or agency, not just a single contract
Speak directly to Harry, not a call centre, no passing you around
Decisions in principle done with a soft search, not a hard credit check
As featured in…
Meet your Advisor
Harry Goodliffe
- FCA Authorised
- Director & Mortgage Advisor
“I‘m not about confusing jargon or passing you from person to person. From our first chat to the day you get the keys, you’ll deal directly with me. I‘ll keep you updated, answer any burning questions, and do everything I can to make the whole process as stress-free as possible.”
Let’s Talk About Your Mortgage
The care worker mortgage process
1
Step 1
First Chat
Contact us for a straightforward chat about how your care work is structured, one employer, an agency, or a mix, and what you’re hoping to buy.
2
Step 2
Research
We’ll match your payslips and shift pattern against lender criteria to find who will count your actual earnings, including bank shifts and overtime, before anyone runs a hard search.
3
Step 3
Application
Once you’ve chosen a mortgage, we’ll handle the application process, liaising with the lender on your behalf.
4
Step 4
Completion
After approval, we’ll ensure a smooth transition to your new mortgage, keeping you informed at every step.
About
Our approach.
Why choose HTG Mortgages?
Care work rarely fits how a mortgage calculator expects income to look. Lenders care about how your hours and employers are actually structured, not just what a single payslip shows. Here’s what matters most:
Contracted hours are not the whole picture.
Many lenders only assess your basic contracted hours and ignore bank shifts or overtime altogether, which can badly understate what care workers actually earn. We work with lenders who take a fuller income picture into account.
More than one employer or agency.
Picking up shifts across more than one care provider, or working through an agency alongside a main contract, is common in the sector. Some lenders will only look at your primary employer; we know which ones will add income from more than one source together.
Zero-hours contracts are the norm in parts of the sector.
Across the adult social care workforce in England, around one in five posts are on a zero-hours contract, rising to roughly four in ten for care workers in domiciliary care specifically. Lenders vary in how they treat this: some want 12 months of history and average it, others will look at a shorter period if your hours are stable or increasing. Source: Skills for Care, The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2025.
Visa and sponsorship situations.
A significant share of the care workforce is on a Health and Care Worker visa. If that’s you, see our visa and foreign national mortgages page for how lenders treat time left on a visa and deposit requirements, since it affects care workers as much as any other sponsored role.
How HTG Mortgages Can Help
At HTG Mortgages, we build your application around how care sector pay actually works, not a generic income form. As an independent, whole-of-market broker we place care worker mortgages with lenders who understand shift-based and multi-employer pay. Here’s how we can assist you:
- Income built from your real pattern: we look at contracted hours, bank shifts, overtime and, where relevant, income from a second employer or agency together, not in isolation.
- Lender matching before you apply: we check your payslips and shift history against lender criteria first, so you’re not making a hard-search application to a lender who was always going to say no.
- Broker-only access: some of the lenders most comfortable with care sector income aren’t available directly to the public, only through a broker.
- Support with visa cases: where a Health and Care Worker visa is part of the picture, we factor in time left on the visa and deposit requirements from the outset.
Who care worker mortgages can help
Care worker mortgages exist because standard income forms don’t reflect how the sector actually pays. They could be the right route if:
- You work full-time, part-time or bank shifts for a care home, domiciliary agency or supported living provider.
- You pick up shifts across more than one employer or through an agency.
- You’re on a zero-hours or rolling contract rather than a fixed salary.
- You regularly work overtime, nights or weekends and want that income counted properly.
- You’re on a Health and Care Worker visa.
- You’ve already been turned down by a mainstream lender because of how your income is structured.
Whatever your role in care, from a care home to domiciliary or supported living, the right lender match can make a real difference to what you’re able to borrow. If you work in a related caring profession, our mortgages for nurses and midwives page covers how NHS and agency pay is assessed in the same way.
If this is your first purchase, our first-time buyer page covers deposits and the application in more detail. We work with care staff across Hampshire, including Southampton.
Related: Mortgage Broker Southampton.
Why use HTG’s mortgage services?
Available 24/7, so we are always there to help when you need us
We are an independently owned, whole-of-market mortgage broker offering first-charge mortgages
We provide unrivalled customer service, ensuring that you get the care you deserve
Let’s get your mortgage sorted
Written by Harry Goodliffe
Director & Mortgage Adviser, HTG Mortgages · FCA Authorised (1017945)
CeMAP Qualified · Featured in National Press · South England Prestige Awards 2026/27 winner