The UK average price for a home purchased by the self-employed is currently £172,740 according to UCB Home Loans figures for the first quarter of 2003. This compares with an average house price which is under three-quarters of this, standing at £119,938 over the same period, according to Nationwide's quarterly house price index.

Says UCB Home Loans managing director, Charles Reed: "There are two principal reasons why self-employed people pay more than average for their homes."

"Firstly, there are fewer first-time buyers among the self-employed, as they are often people who are a little further on in their careers and have therefore already owned a property before.”

“Also, it is true that the number of self-employed people is higher in parts of the country where house prices are more expensive, such as London, which has the highest percentage of self-employed people in all major towns and cities in the UK."

The report quotes the latest figures from the Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2003, which show that there are currently 3.2 million self-employed people in the UK, accounting for 11.5% of the total workforce of 27.9 million.

Women account for 0.9 million of the self-employed. This represents 28% of the total - a figure that has grown by 2% over the past six months.

The UCB Home Loans report shows that women are forming a growing proportion of those in entrepreneurial roles. The report also reveals that increasing numbers of people are turning towards specialist mortgages designed for the self-employed, and that women are forming a growing proportion of this group.

Charles Reed adds: "Changing working patterns, coupled with a self-employed sector that now accounts for 3.2 million people, are encouraging increasing numbers of people to use the services of specialist self-certification mortgage lenders."

"When you add the growing band of workers with working styles which differ slightly from the norm, such as part-timers, contract workers and small business owners, this broader grouping of people who fall into the typical self-certification mortgage bracket is now close to 10 million."

A full copy of the ‘Self-Starter’ report is available from the media section at http://www.ucbhomeloans.co.uk/