My best suggestion would be to try through Barclays. They are equipped for something like this but I would still not be too confident about success

Hi

My partner and I are in the very preliminary stages of hunting for our very first home to purchase and as part of that we need to start enquiring about mortgages.

We've come across an issue right at the very start of it all.

For your information, although these figures are estimates only at this stage;
We're both 29 years old looking for a joint first-time buyer mortgage of 25-30 years duration.
Our rough budget is £550,000 with a $190,000 deposit which I believes gives us a 65% LTV or in other words a 35% deposit.
Location will be London.
My partner is a school teacher with a salary of £37500pa.
I am the sole director, shareholder and employee of a UK registered company which I use a personal services company to gain contracts in software development. This has been running since Oct 2010 and last year provided me with £11500 in salary and £44000 in dividends.
We have no outstanding credit cards or personal loans.

However the question which needs to be asked in light of a border-line discriminatory policy we've already encountered at one other provider is;
While my partner is a British Citizen by birth and has been resident her entire life, I am however a New Zealand citizen and have been resident in the UK since Dec 2008. While I now consider the UK my home (hence buying a home!) my current visa is a General Tier 1 which cannot be converted to an Indefinite Leave to Remain visa for another 18 months at the earliest. So while my partner and I remain unmarried and until I can gain a different visa I am to be classed as 'not permanent resident'.

Are there ANY providers which will be able to lend to us?