Help - BTL for expats?

FrankBrown

Hi Everyone,

I own an apartment in Reading for which I had a residential mortgage from HSBC. After 2 years of staying there, I got an expat assignment in Feb 2017 from my company wherein I work abroad 6 months a year and I get time-off for 6 months (which I spend in India). This assignment is due to end in mid 2020 after which I may move back to UK (not necessarily Reading) or some other country.

I got my Consent to Let for 2 years and so this expires in early 2019. HSBC indicated that they will not extend the CTL so the only option remains that I convert my Residential mortgage to a Buy To Let. However, a BTL mortgage asks the question whether we/relatives intend to move into the property in the future.

My current situation is that its quite likely that we may not return to the same address in the future (as my future job could be in London or abroad); but this is not 100% certain.

My dilemma is -

Is it safe to indicate that we DONT plan on moving back to the property? What if we do have to move back to that property in 2 years? Will there by any issues in doing this?

Other key points to note - this is my only property in UK. I have other residential properties in India. The property has seen significant appreciation and the current LTV ratio is less than 50%.

Appreciate your guidance !

Cheers,
Frank

AnotherJoe

"Just say no"

You can always remortgage if you do move back in 2 years to stay there, or if you move back in for a few months whilst selling to move elsewhere , who's going to know.

MortgageMamma

As Joe says, tick no - your future is uncertain, where you will be, what you will be doing etc. There could be issues for you regarding residency as you are not currently spending any time in the UK.

There are only a few buy to let lenders currently who will lend money to ex-pats, so seek professional advice it will save you time and headaches!