Company director guide · Ireland
If you run your income through a limited company, lenders assess you very differently — and the right lender can value your income far more generously than the wrong one. Here's how it works.
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Yes — and the headline limits are identical to those for employees: up to 4× income for first-time buyers and 3.5× for movers. The difference is entirely in how your income is assessed, because how you draw money from your company isn't as simple as a payslip.
Lenders take different views of director income:
The most conservative approach is salary only; the most generous is an average of salary + dividends + net profit. The gap between them can be tens of thousands of euro in borrowing capacity.
How much of the company you own changes everything:
This single threshold makes a large difference to the documents you need and how your income is read, so it's the first thing we establish.
Some lenders will add back pension contributions made by the company to your assessable income — which can meaningfully increase your maximum borrowing. Haven and Bank of Ireland tend to be among the more flexible on this, though treatment varies. It's a detail that's easy to miss and can be worth a significant amount.
There's no single best lender — it depends on whether you're better served by a salary-only, salary-plus-dividends, or net-profit assessment, and on how add-backs are treated. We assess the lenders on our panel against your actual income structure and recommend the one that values it most.
See how your borrowing range changes depending on whether a lender uses your salary only or salary plus dividends.
Illustrative only — not a quote or a lending decision. Borrowing shown at the standard 4.0× income limit; each lender treats director income differently and assesses your full circumstances.
Yes. Company directors get mortgages routinely — the income limits are the same as for everyone else (4× for first-time buyers, 3.5× for movers). What differs is how your income is assessed: lenders look beyond your salary to how you draw money from the company, which can work strongly in your favour with the right lender.
It varies by lender. The most conservative use your salary only. The most generous take an average of salary plus dividends, and some will also factor in retained net profit in the company. Because the spread between these approaches can be large, the lender you choose can materially change how much you can borrow.
Generally yes — most lenders want two years of company accounts plus two years of personal tax returns, a tax clearance certificate and an accountant's certificate of income. If you hold 25% or more of the company you're treated as self-employed for mortgage purposes, which is where the two-year accounts requirement applies.
Often yes. Many lenders will include dividends you draw from the company alongside your salary, typically averaged over two years. Some go further and consider retained net profit. Which applies depends on the lender and how your income is structured — we identify the lender whose treatment best fits how you actually pay yourself.
As with sole-trader self-employment, if your most recent year is lower, most lenders use the lower figure rather than an average — so a recent dip reduces your assessed income. Where there's a credible explanation (reinvestment, a one-off cost), we present it to the lenders most likely to take it into account rather than letting the headline number speak for itself.
See which lender values your director income most — run the free eligibility check in about 60 seconds, then talk your structure through with Francis.
Warning: If you do not keep up your repayments you may lose your home.
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