No credit record, no mortgage

Fitzmichael

My (second) wife's son and dtr-in-law have been working abroad (EU) for years (both IT specialists/web designers). Now that they've just had their first child they are going to come over here (near delighted Grandma), where dtr-i-l has a job offer and son has no worries about having a choice. I asked my bank about them setting up an account to transfer their money to and was told it would take only a few days but could only be a basic account to begin with -- in those halcyon days of the 60s I told the same bank I was going out to work in newly independent Zambia and asked if they knew how I would manage for a bank there: "Oh, we'll open an account in our overseas subsidiary." Some weeks later, I got a letter and a chequebook. !
The mortgage, since they have no credit record, seems to be the problem - surprisingly in this world of much greater mobility than 50-odd years ago. I discovered that my idea of using my wholly-owned home as collateral is so pre-historic that the young person I was dealing with had to enquire what I meant, although I read of people re-mortgaging their home, eg, to set up a business, which must be more risky than buying another property (sometimes to rent). As I'm retired and my decent pension wouldn't stretch too far, I intended it to be interest only for the few years before the couple (they'll be good earners) could get a mortgage for themselves.
Any knowledgeable people here with suggestions?

amnblog

Let them rent and settle for six months, then apply via a broker.

The bigger the deposit the easiest as shallow credit file can de dealt with.

Thrugelmir

Credit history takes time to build. Once over here they need to start doing the right things and start saving.