Visa mortgages up to 95% for foreign nationals on Tier 1, Tier 2, Student, Spousal, Ancestry and family permit visa’s
If you are not a UK national and want to arrange a mortgage in the UK often you may find difficulty due to the restrictions placed by many lenders on who can apply for their mortgage deals.
These restrictions could affect European nationals particularly when they have only recently moved to Britain as well as non EEA citizens working in the UK on work permits or who have emigrated here on Visa’s such as a spousal or ancestry Visa.
In general the points that will determine who you can arrange a mortgage with will be the length of time you have been residing in the UK, the length of time remaining on any Visa or work permit and whether you have established sufficient credit history here.
The products available to you will be standard mortgage deals with generally competitive interest rates and charges however you may find some of the cheapest products in the market place are not available as lenders offering market leading rates tend to have slightly more restrictive lending rules.
Also further restrictions can often apply to the “loan to value” or the maximum percentage of the property value you can actually finance.
There are many different approaches taken by lenders so most migrants who have been residing in the UK for at least a year or two and who have at least a years remaining Visa or permanent right to reside will be able to find a mortgage.
But due to the complexity of the marketplace it will normally be beneficial for you to take independent advice even if that is just to remove the legwork of finding a suitable lender.
If however you have diplomatic immunity you will find it very difficult to arrange a mortgage as almost all high street lenders are unable to accept applications where immunity exists.
One thing that all migrants to the UK will benefit from when attempting to arrange a mortgage is making sure you establish some credit history here from the outset, and maintaining an address history.
Although it may not seem important at the time opening at least two bank accounts upon arrival in the UK in order to establish two separate proof’s of address history is a good idea.
And once a regular income has been established getting some form of credit such as a small overdraft and or a credit card will assist when the time comes to buy a home.