When High-Net-Worth Clients Hit the Wall: Why Standard Underwriting Simply Does Not Work

For high-net-worth clients, the mortgage process can be a frustrating exercise in square pegs and round holes. Amar Dhanota, co-founder of London FS, works with some of the most financially sophisticated borrowers in London – surgeons, company directors, entrepreneurs – yet regularly finds that standard lending frameworks simply cannot accommodate the way their wealth is structured.

Speaking to Mortgage Introducer, Amar explains that income is typically the sticking point. Clients who are asset-rich but record a low PAYE income for tax planning reasons, or those whose earnings come through dividends, retained profits or multiple streams, are often told they cannot borrow what they clearly could afford to repay. Her approach in these situations is to combine deep underwriting knowledge with well-established lender relationships. If a case does not present well on paper, she packages it carefully and directs it to the right audience – specialist high-net-worth private banks or niche lenders with the appetite and the experience to assess the full picture. For clients whose wealth does not fit a standard payslip, a private bank mortgage UK route often provides the flexibility high-street lenders cannot.

Equally important, she argues, is the quality of case notes submitted alongside an application. A detailed, well-structured note that explains the client’s background and the rationale for the deal can be the difference between approval and a technical decline. Amar also does as much due diligence as possible on non-standard properties before formal valuation, engaging surveyor contacts early to reduce the risk of surprises later. Her broader call is for more common sense to return to lending – the kind of pragmatic, relationship-led underwriting that once allowed complex cases to be assessed on their merits.

Read the full feature on Mortgage Introducer.