Key facts:
- Clients were both foreign nationals, originally from countries outside of the UK. One is an EEA national and the other was not.
- They moved to London a few years ago and had been renting for a while.
- Now that they had both established themselves in the UK with good careers and good roots, they wanted to explore the option of purchasing their first UK home.
- After approaching their bank, they were surprised to find that due to several reasons relating to their residency status and their income, they were not eligible for a mortgage.
Our client:
Our clients were a young couple living and working in the UK. She was from Europe however he was from a country outside of the EEA. Each client had only lived in the UK for a couple of years and had moved around the world previously to different countries. Now that they were comfortably settled in the UK, one of the clients had secured a right to reside permit and the other had secure a dependant visa.
They had saved a deposit and found a property that they were interested in purchasing however, when they approached their normal high street bank, their application was rejected because:
- Applicant 1 was employed by an American company who paid him in US dollars
- Applicant 2 was on a dependent visa
- Both applicants hadn’t been in the country long enough
The clients were a little shocked to say the least as they both earned a good income, had been living and working in the UK for several years, and had worked hard to get themselves into a good financial position to purchase a property. Unsure of what to do next, they came to Oportfolio for help.
How did we help?
Having provided mortgages for almost 15 years and having seen lots of complex international mortgages in those years, our advisors at Oportfolio were immediately confident that we would be able to help. Our advisor Oliver spoke to the clients initially to get an idea of what the issues were with their bank and what their circumstances were.
He identified the pushbacks that the lender was having issues with and began to do some research with other lenders to see if any of them would consider all three of the issues with the foreign national status and the foreign income. Oliver found that most UK high street lenders would need the clients to both have permanent right to reside in the UK, at least three years address history in the UK, and also to be paid in UK pound sterling before they would consider lending.
However, as an experienced brokerage, we had a much better option for the clients that meant that they would be able to get the mortgage they need at a competitive rate too. Oliver advised the clients and then approached a specific international lending arm of one of the UK’s biggest banks. This arm specifically provides mortgages to UK based clients with some foreign elements to their application who don’t fit standard lending criteria. Oliver discussed the case in detail with the underwriters at the bank and positioned the case in a clear and attractive manner for the lender.
The mortgage was offered by the lender very quickly and the clients were able to buy their first permanent home in the UK.
What was the rate?
The loan was secured in five parts as both capital repayment and interest fixed rate for 5-years at 3.77%. After the fixed period, they would revert to the bank’s 4.75% standard variable rate at which time we will contact the clients to discuss remortgaging on to another new competitive fixed rate. The mortgage term was 30 years.
If you or someone you know is looking to purchase a new property but are struggling to get the lending you need due to foreign income or visa issues, please give our friendly advisor team a call today to discuss your options.
