The best Dublin mortgage brokers for self-employed and contractor applicants in 2026, per Dublish's shortlist, are MortgageLine, moneysherpa, Irish Mortgage Corporation, GMC Mortgages, Mortgages.ie, Irish Mortgage Brokers, Harbour View Mortgages Tallaght and Finance Solutions Lucan.
This shortlist is drawn from the Dublin brokers profiled on Dublish whose profile specialties explicitly include self-employed. We ranked them by client rating weighted by the natural log of review count, preferring brokers whose bios specifically describe experience with sole traders, company directors, contractors and applicants whose last two years of certified accounts differ materially. All shortlisted brokers are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Dublish is independent and is not paid by any broker on this list. Rankings are refreshed as new data becomes available.
Drumcondra, Dublin 9
MortgageLine is a Drumcondra-based Dublin mortgage broker with 20+ years' experience, ranked #1 in Dublin by HeyDublin.ie with 900+ five-star reviews across first-time buyer, switcher, self-employed, and mover cases.
Why shortlisted: Dublin's highest-reviewed broker (4.9 stars, 900-plus reviews) and an explicit self-employed specialist. MortgageLine's scale means they regularly handle contractor, sole-trader and director cases and know which lenders read two years of certified accounts most generously.
Dublin (Online)
moneysherpa is a Dublin-based online mortgage broker ranked Ireland's #1 broker, rated 4.9 stars across 420+ reviews for first-time buyer, switcher, and self-employed advice nationwide.
Why shortlisted: Online Dublin brokerage (4.9 stars, 420 reviews) with a self-employed specialty tag and a digital workflow designed for applicants who cannot attend daytime meetings. Particularly strong for directors and consultants whose income blends salary, dividends and expenses.
Dublin City Centre
Irish Mortgage Corporation is a Dublin city centre mortgage broker rated 4.9 stars across 310+ reviews for first-time buyer, switcher, investment, and self-employed advice.
Why shortlisted: City-centre brokerage, 4.9 stars across 310 reviews, with decades of experience interpreting self-employed accounts for Irish lender underwriters. Well-suited to applicants with variable annual income who need the application framed across a multi-year picture.
Clontarf, Dublin 3
GMC Mortgages is a Clontarf-based Dublin mortgage broker founded in 1996, holding a perfect 5-star rating across 210 reviews and specialising in first-time buyer, switcher, self-employed, and investment cases.
Why shortlisted: A perfect 5.0-star rating and nearly 30 years on the Clontarf Road. GMC's self-employed work is strong on presentation — certified accounts, drawings analysis, auditor letters and short-form projections packaged so underwriters can approve with minimal back-and-forth.
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Mortgages.ie, trading as Finance Company of Ireland from Ballsbridge, combines deep market credibility with a 4.7-star rating across 230 reviews — a comprehensive broker for first-time buyers, investors, switchers, and self-employed applicants.
Why shortlisted: Ballsbridge-based (Finance Company of Ireland), 4.7 stars across 230 reviews. Their breadth of lender relationships is particularly useful for self-employed applicants whose income profile fits some lenders' self-employed policies and not others.
Dublin City Centre
Irish Mortgage Brokers in Dublin city centre brings 195+ reviews and a 4.7-star reputation, offering comprehensive advice across first-time buyer, switcher, investment, and self-employed mortgage categories.
Why shortlisted: Dublin city centre Irish Mortgage Brokers, 4.7 stars across 195 reviews, with first-time buyer, switcher, investment and self-employed specialties. A useful choice when a self-employed applicant is also buying an investment property or switching in parallel.
Tallaght, Dublin 24
Harbour View Mortgages' Tallaght branch delivers 4.8-star mortgage advice across first-time buyer, switcher, buy-to-let, and self-employed cases — a versatile, highly-rated team for south Dublin clients.
Why shortlisted: South Dublin's strongest self-employed option on this list (4.8 stars, 115 reviews). Harbour View Tallaght's specialty blend of self-employed plus buy-to-let makes them particularly well suited to contractors who also hold or plan to hold rental property.
Lucan, Co. Dublin
Finance Solutions in Lucan holds an impressive 4.9-star rating built on 72 reviews, with standout expertise helping self-employed and first-time buyer clients navigate the mortgage process in west Dublin.
Why shortlisted: West Dublin specialist (4.9 stars, 72 reviews) with a bio that explicitly identifies self-employed applicants as a core strength. A good fit for Lucan, Palmerstown and Adamstown sole traders and directors.
Lenders typically require two years of certified or audited accounts, prepared by an accountant who is a member of a recognised professional body such as Chartered Accountants Ireland, ACCA, CPA Ireland or ICAI. In addition expect to provide two years of Form 11 tax returns, Revenue Notices of Assessment, six months of business and personal bank statements, a statement of current tax clearance, and — for company directors — latest management accounts plus a projection for the current year signed by the accountant.
It varies by lender. For sole traders, most Irish lenders use net profit from certified accounts, averaged over the last two years; some cap increases between the two years. For company directors, lenders typically use directors' salary plus a share of retained profit, provided the company is profitable and solvent. A few lenders will also allow add-backs for pension contributions and non-cash items. The choice of lender can materially change how much a self-employed applicant can borrow.
The same as any other first-time buyer under Central Bank of Ireland rules — 10 per cent of the property value, with borrowing capped at 4 times gross household income, subject to the lender's own affordability assessment. However lenders may apply stricter affordability stress tests to self-employed income, reducing the maximum loan below the headline 4× LTI figure. A broker can model this accurately from your accounts before you go to market.
It is difficult but not impossible. The standard requirement across Irish lenders is two full years of trading accounts. A small number of lenders will consider one year of accounts where the applicant has a prior PAYE career in the same sector and clear continuity of income — for example an IT contractor who left PAYE employment 14 months ago to contract in the same role. A broker will know which lenders are currently open to such cases.
Usually not. Most Dublin brokers are paid by the lender on drawdown whether the applicant is PAYE or self-employed. Some brokers charge an additional fee for particularly complex self-employed cases — for example where multiple limited companies, a holding structure or recent restructuring is involved — but any fee must be disclosed in writing in the Terms of Business before you engage the broker, as required by the Central Bank.
A contract of indefinite duration is a permanent employment contract with no fixed end date. Irish lenders generally prefer PAYE applicants on such contracts. Contractors on rolling fixed-term contracts are often treated as self-employed for underwriting purposes, even where tax is deducted at source. Brokers can advise on which lenders apply a more accommodating policy to long-tenured contractors with evidence of continuous renewal.
Some lenders will take a share of retained profits into account when assessing a director's income, typically requiring the company to be consistently profitable, solvent and for the director to be able to extract the profit as dividend or salary. Other lenders will only consider directors' salary and dividends actually paid and reported on the Form 11. A broker will match you to the lender whose self-employed income policy extracts the highest affordable loan from your specific accounts.
