Can Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) Be Used to Qualify for a Mortgage?
How lenders assess restricted stock units for affordability — which ones accept vested equity income, what evidence you need, and how borrowing power changes when you use the right lender.
DIRECTOR AND MORTGAGE ADVISER
Specialist mortgage broker for City professionals. 10+ years advising tech and finance professionals on mortgage strategy.
In short
Most mainstream lenders exclude Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) from affordability assessments. Nationwide categorically prohibits them. Skipton accepts vested RSUs at 50%, subject to documented vesting conditions. Lenders who do accept RSUs focus on three things: a consistent vesting history of 12–24 months, evidence that shares are regularly converted to cash, and a stable listed employer.
USD-denominated RSUs attract an additional currency haircut — typically 10–25% — on top of any equity discount. The right lender, using the right evidence, can increase your assessed income by hundreds of thousands of pounds compared with a lender that ignores RSUs entirely. Unvested RSUs are almost universally excluded — structure your application around vested, sold, and evidenced income.
Who this is for
This article is for professionals in tech, finance, or multinational firms whose total compensation includes RSUs alongside a base salary — and who want to understand whether that equity income can increase how much they can borrow. If RSUs represent a meaningful share of your pay packet and you are buying or remortgaging at a higher loan size, the lender you use matters more than almost any other factor in your application.
What are RSUs — and how do lenders see them?
Restricted Stock Units are shares in your employer that vest to you over time, typically on an annual or quarterly schedule. Once vested, you can sell them for cash, hold them, or a combination of both. For many professionals in technology and finance, RSUs now represent a significant proportion of total compensation — sometimes exceeding the base salary.
From a mortgage lender's perspective, RSUs sit in a different category from salary. Salary is predictable, recurring, and easy to evidence from payslips. RSUs are contingent on continued employment, subject to share price movements, and paid in equity rather than cash until you sell. This places them outside the standard income frameworks most lenders use.
That said, "outside the standard framework" does not mean excluded outright. The critical distinction is between lenders who have a specific, documented policy for RSU income — and those who don't. Most don't. The ones who do tend to produce materially different mortgage outcomes for the same client.
This article is part of our broader guide to mortgages for tech and finance professionals →
Which lenders accept RSU income?
The honest answer is: fewer than most people expect, and the ones that do have a specific condition that catches many clients off guard.
Most mainstream high street lenders do not have a formalised policy for RSU income. That is starting to change — there is a growing willingness on the high street to consider RSUs as part of affordability — but where they will engage with it, they are typically looking for a very clear, defined structure from allocation through to vesting through to the cash appearing in your account. The critical word is cash. High street lenders will almost universally expect you to be regularly converting vested RSUs into cash proceeds, and it is that realised, banked amount they will use in their assessment — not the allocated value, and not the vested shares sitting in a brokerage account.
This is worth understanding in practical terms, because it creates a tension that comes up regularly with tech professionals. Many clients we speak to have been deliberately holding their stock rather than selling — which is entirely rational given the performance of some of the major tech employers over recent years. But from a mortgage underwriting perspective, shares held but not sold do not create a demonstrable income stream. The lender cannot see cash credits against a vesting event. If you are holding your stock and approaching a high street lender, you are asking them to take a view on an asset rather than evidence of income — and most will not do that.
Private banks approach this differently. They are accustomed to thinking about RSUs as part of a broader compensation picture, and they are generally more comfortable assessing the full award — vested and in some cases unvested — in the context of your overall financial position and your employer's profile. They can consider the vesting schedule as forward evidence of income, assess the underlying employer's stability, and take a more holistic view of whether the equity award is a reliable and ongoing component of your earnings. For clients who hold significant stock and are not regularly converting it to cash, the private bank route is almost always the more productive conversation.
The practical consequence is that lender selection matters enormously here. The same person — same employer, same RSU grant, same vesting schedule — can face a very different outcome depending on whether they approach a high street lender or a private bank, and on how their RSU proceeds have been handled.
What do lenders who accept RSUs actually look for?
Whether you are approaching a high street lender with a defined RSU policy, or making a case to a specialist or private bank for more comprehensive inclusion, the underwriting questions are broadly the same.
Vesting history. A consistent track record of RSUs vesting and being converted to cash over 12 to 24 months creates an evidenceable income stream. Quarterly vesting creates more data points than annual vesting — more information for the underwriter to assess, and a smoother income pattern to demonstrate. A single large cliff-vesting grant with no prior track record is a materially harder case.
Predictability. Regular vesting on a defined schedule from a stable employer is assessed differently from sporadic awards. A VP at a FTSE 100 or listed US tech company with four years of annual grants and a published vesting schedule is a different proposition from a startup employee with a single, performance-contingent award.
Liquidity. High street lenders want to see cash arriving in your bank account — not shares sitting in a brokerage. RSUs you hold rather than sell do not evidence an income stream in the way a lender's underwriting model requires, regardless of how much those shares are worth. This is the single most common disconnect we see with tech clients: a strong, consistent vesting history, but proceeds held as stock because the employer's share price has been performing well. From an underwriting perspective, an unsold share is an asset, not income. If you are in this position, the private bank route is worth understanding before you assume the high street will accommodate you.
Employment context. RSUs linked to large, listed employers are treated more favourably than equity in earlier-stage businesses. The stability and transparency of the employer feeds directly into how an underwriter assesses the sustainability of future vesting.
Client Scenario
Senior Engineer — £900k Mortgage Secured Using Vested RSUs
A senior software engineer on £95k base with quarterly RSU vesting needed a mortgage on a £900k property. We averaged 12–24 months of vested RSUs, packaged award letters, brokerage statements, and payslips, and secured approval with a part interest-only structure.
Read the full case study →What evidence do you need for an RSU mortgage application?
The documentation burden on RSU applications is higher than on salary cases — which is appropriate, because the income is more complex. The cleaner and more complete the evidence pack, the better the outcome.
Award letters and vesting schedules. These confirm the original grant, the vesting timeline, and the forward schedule. They are the foundation of any RSU income case. An underwriter needs to see not just what has vested to date, but whether vesting is expected to continue.
Brokerage statements. Showing vest events, any same-day sales, and the cash proceeds received. If you hold shares rather than selling on vest, you will need to show the share movements and the current value — but be aware that unsold shares are harder to treat as income than converted cash.
Payslips or employer compensation summaries. Where RSU proceeds appear on payslips (this is common when tax withholding occurs at vest), these create a direct link between vesting events and employment. Where proceeds appear only as brokerage credits, a compensation summary letter from your employer can bridge the gap.
Bank statements evidencing credits. Three to six months minimum, cross-referenced to vest events and brokerage credits to show the cash flow trail clearly.
Tax calculations (SA302) or P60s. Where RSU income has been declared through Self Assessment — which is common for significant equity awards — tax calculations provide the clearest picture of total annual income. This is the format lenders prefer for evidencing complex income.
Client Scenario
US Tech Employee — £2.58m Remortgage Using USD Income and RSUs
A senior employee at a US technology firm, based in the UK, needed to remortgage a £5.3m property. Income was paid entirely in USD with significant RSU compensation alongside salary and bonus. Most lenders applied aggressive currency haircuts or excluded equity altogether. We moved to a private bank that assessed the full compensation structure — securing £2.58m at c.49% Loan to Value (LTV) on terms that reflected the client’s actual earning capacity.
Read the full case study →How much of your RSU income will lenders count?
This is where lender selection has the most direct impact on borrowing power.
Even among lenders who accept RSU income, the treatment varies significantly. Where a lender does include vested RSU proceeds, they will typically apply a percentage of the averaged amount — often 50% or less — rather than the full figure. On £100,000 of averaged RSU income, that means the assessed contribution may be £50,000 or below. At a 5x multiple, the difference between a lender who includes that income and one who excludes it entirely is £250,000 of borrowing capacity — a meaningful gap on a £1m+ purchase.
Specialist and private lenders may go further. In cases where vesting is consistent, the employer is a major listed company, and the evidence is well-packaged, it is possible to argue for a higher inclusion percentage — particularly where RSU income has been regular for three years or more. In our experience, the percentage counted is rarely a fixed number; it is a function of how well the sustainability case is made.
There is also the question of which years to use. Some lenders average the last two years' vested income. Others use the most recent year if it is the lower figure. Understanding a lender's averaging methodology before submitting matters — particularly if there has been a significant year-on-year movement in stock price.
USD-denominated RSUs — does currency make this harder?
For professionals at US-listed technology or finance firms, RSUs are typically granted in USD-denominated stock. This introduces a second layer of lender conservatism: the currency haircut. Most lenders that accept RSU income at all will also apply a haircut on the sterling conversion — typically 10% to 25% — to account for exchange rate risk.
On £100,000 of RSU income, the difference between a 10% and 25% currency haircut is £15,000 of assessed income. At a 5x multiple, that translates to £75,000 of borrowing capacity. When this compounds on top of the initial RSU inclusion percentage, lender selection becomes even more consequential for USD equity holders than for those with sterling-denominated awards.
The approach that tends to work best is to keep the currency and equity threads separate in how the evidence is presented. Base salary in USD is converted at a defined rate using a standard methodology — the haircut is applied to that. RSU income, which is typically sold at vest and converted to sterling at the brokerage rate, can be evidenced from the sterling proceeds shown in bank statements, which sidesteps some of the currency conversion debate. Lenders who can see sterling credits hitting the account at regular intervals are in a cleaner position to include that income than those working from USD grant letters and making theoretical conversion calculations.
For more on how foreign currency income is assessed across the panel, see our Foreign Currency Income Mortgage Guide →
When RSUs are not worth including in your application
You earn well. Your equity vesting is consistent. But using RSUs to maximise borrowing isn't always the right call.
In some cases the borrowing need is already met by base salary and cash bonus at a lender with a strong income multiple. Introducing RSU income into the application — with the additional documentation, underwriter questions, and potential for a conservative discount — can add complexity without adding meaningful borrowing power.
In others, RSU income has recently changed materially. A new role, a new employer, or a period where you held rather than sold shares can create an evidencing gap that reduces the income figure used. If the last 12 months of vesting are significantly lower than the two-year average, some lenders will use the lower figure. In those cases, timing matters more than simply including the income.
And in a minority of cases, the documentation complexity is simply not worth the additional borrowing. A senior professional borrowing at 4x income on a base salary that comfortably services the loan has little practical benefit from pushing to 5x or 6x — and the underwriting conversation that comes with equity income can slow an application that would otherwise be straightforward.
In our experience, the decision about whether to include RSU income is as important as how to include it. It is worth having that conversation before submission, not discovering the complications afterwards.
How to structure an RSU mortgage application
There is no single approach that works across every lender. But the applications that succeed tend to share the same characteristics.
Separate your income into components and evidence each one independently. Base salary from payslips. Cash bonus from payslips and the most recent year's tax calculation (SA302). RSU income from brokerage statements cross-referenced to bank credits and award documentation. Lenders who can follow the paper trail clearly are more likely to include the income — and at a higher percentage — than those left to interpret a tangled documentation pack.
Show the pattern of conversion to cash. If you hold shares at vest, consider whether it is worth selling at least part of the next vest ahead of an application, simply to create the bank statement evidence. Some lenders will not count unsold shares regardless of their value.
Match your lender to your income profile. A high street lender with no documented RSU policy is not necessarily a dead end, but you are relying on underwriter discretion rather than a defined route. A specialist or private bank with established frameworks for equity compensation is a more predictable outcome. The trade-off is that private banks typically set minimum loan sizes (often £500,000 or above) and may have relationship requirements. We can advise on which route is appropriate given your loan size and income profile.
Part of a wider guide
Equity Compensation Mortgage Guide
RSUs are one form of equity compensation. If your package also includes stock options, deferred stock, co-invest, or Long Term Incentive Plans (LTIPs), the wider guide covers how each is assessed — and how to present a multi-component equity income case to lenders.
Read the equity compensation guide →FAQs
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Yes — but the outcome depends heavily on which lender you use and how your RSU proceeds have been handled. Most mainstream high street lenders either exclude RSU income or will only consider it where shares have been regularly converted to cash. Private banks and specialist lenders take a broader view. The lender selection decision, and whether you sell or hold your stock, are the two most important variables.
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No. Most high street lenders do not have a formalised policy for RSU income, and those that will consider it expect to see cash proceeds from regular sales — not shares held in a brokerage account. There is growing willingness on the high street to engage with RSU income, but the requirement to evidence realised, banked proceeds is consistent. Private banks are considerably more flexible and can assess the full award picture.
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Yes — materially. Almost every lender that accepts RSU income requires the RSUs to have vested and, ideally, been converted to cash. Unvested awards — shares scheduled to vest in the future but not yet done so — are excluded by virtually all lenders. Build your application around vested, sold, and evidenced income.
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Most lenders who consider RSU income want to see a minimum of 12 months of vesting history, and two years produces a more confident underwriting position. For specialist and private bank routes, a longer track record consistently produces better inclusion terms.
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It adds a layer of complexity but does not make the case impossible. Lenders will convert the income to sterling and typically apply a currency haircut of 10% to 25% on top of any RSU discount. If your RSU proceeds are sold at vest and the sterling credits appear clearly in your bank statements, that reduces the currency conversion debate considerably.
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Yes — if you have sold the shares and the cash proceeds are held in your bank account, they are treated the same as any other savings. You will need to explain the source of funds clearly, typically with the brokerage statement showing the sale and the corresponding bank credit. Unsold shares held in a brokerage account require additional steps to be counted as a usable deposit.
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Not automatically. If your base salary and cash bonus already support the borrowing you need at a straightforward lender, adding RSU income can introduce documentation complexity and underwriting questions without materially improving the outcome. The decision about whether to include RSU income is as important as how to include it.
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Generally yes, particularly at higher loan sizes. Private banks assess complex compensation holistically — they look at the vesting schedule, employer stability, and total financial picture rather than applying fixed percentage caps or blanket exclusions. They are typically the most appropriate route for clients where RSUs represent a substantial proportion of total income and the loan size is above £500,000 to £750,000.
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