Irish working in UK, first time buy in Ireland?

swingy

Hi all, would appreciate some help.

Me: I'm Irish, came to England 4 years ago and have been working here (in Brighton) ever since. I'm 29 and currently on a salary of 26,000 though this is currently maternity cover ending in december so I'm obviously looking for a permanent job next.

I've got 10,000 saved up and would like (after getting it up more to about 20,000 which'll probably take a year/2 years) to buy my first house... but in Ireland. I'd like to buy a 3 bed in Dublin and rent it, while I continue to work here. I'd love to live and work in Ireland, but the unemployment is so high right now it's not really an option.

My question is will a UK bank even consider lending to me, provided of course I'm in permanent employment? I'm under the impression you can't have a buy to let mortgage as your first one (is this entirely true? I'd imagine you can just get a normal mortgage and then rent your house out, provided there's nothing written into the contract saying you can't?), but my situation is a little different from normal buy to let (I'd live in it if I could, but I can't).

Would an Irish bank would be more willing to lend to me? Or would they look at me askance as I work in another country? And would the buy to let thing be a problem here too?

I'm nowhere near ready to buy yet, just trying to orientate myself for the future.

kingstreet

A UK lender will not lend on a BTL basis in another country.

You need to see if an Eire lender would lend to you.

swingy

Thanks kingstreet! Have you any info on how irish lenders are likely to respond to my situation?

I'm flying blind a bit with this as I've been told Irish lenders may not lend to me because I work in another country and they can't easily pull info on me about my employment/credit rating etc.

I think I represent a low risk candidate (assuming I'm in a permanent job) - no dependents, ok salary, no credit cards, excellent credit history (checked with experian's free trial) and if I can provide all the info about my financials over here they should take them into account?

kingstreet

Not a clue. Sorry.

marathonic

I recently applied for an Ulster Bank mortgage in Northern Ireland whilst having always previously lived in the Republic of Ireland and was accepted.

My advice is to go via a broker as it's a little more complex. Ask your questions here (there are some good brokers on the board): http://www.askaboutmoney.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Also, despite not being asked, I provided the Northern Ireland bank with a copy of my ICB, Irish, credit report.

How's your UK credit report looking? It's definately worth applying for a copy of this and providing it to the Irish bank when applying, even if you're not asked. This assumes, of course, you have no bad history.

marathonic

Just to add, I imagine the chances of a mortgage for a house in Dublin are minimal in your situation with only a 20k deposit.

It's tough to get a mortgage in Ireland, even for those in the perfect situation - with secure employment in Dublin and a 25% deposit.

A post on askaboutmoney should provide further information - because I'm far from an expert.

swingy

Thanks mate, very useful. I asked on an Irish property board and got a pretty hysterical WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! response, so am gathering my idea was slightly overambitious!

Oh well, back to saving I go.