Non-EU Citizen Electoral Roll and Applying for a Mortgage

Ben1989

Hi everyone.

My wife is a US citizen and we’re hoping to buy a house soon. At least, that’s what we hope to do.

I’m British and on the electoral roll. My wife holds Idefinite Leave to Remain and thus is not on the Electoral Roll as she is not yet a citizen.

She has a held a credit card for a long time, routinely pays it off and regularly gets her limit increased. I think from that perspective she’s fine from a credit side and after doing checks in the likes of Experian she scores excellent. Myself too.

However, I am worried about how much of an impact not being on the Electoral Roll has? I don’t want to apply for AIP’s and run the risk of it being declined. Are there certain things we can do to mitigate the risk with this? Can you inform the electoral roll she is not eligible but still hold her details on file?

Thank you in advance

boo_star

If it were me I'd speak to a broker rather than taking the risk of failed AIPs but YMMV.

[Deleted User]

Some lensders will flat out decline if not on the voters roll, some dont care as long as rest of the score is strong. If this is the only issue then you should be fine but unless you know how all the lenders treat this then best to speak to a broker. You don't really want failed aips all over your file

sal_III

Why is she not on the electoral roll? Any UK resident has the right to vote in local elections and can be on the electoral roll.

Edit: My bad, it only applies to EU and some CW citizens. The Yanks shouldn't have thrown out that tea

Ben1989

boo_star wrote: »

If it were me I'd speak to a broker rather than taking the risk of failed AIPs but YMMV.

Yes, this is the correct avenue to go down I think.

Deleted_User wrote: »

Some lensders will flat out decline if not on the voters roll, some dont care as long as rest of the score is strong. If this is the only issue then you should be fine but unless you know how all the lenders treat this then best to speak to a broker. You don't really want failed aips all over your file

Are mortgage advisers used to this situation so are aware of lenders regarding no electoral roll registration? I don't want an adviser thinking they know what to do and then we get refused. First time buyer so not used to advisers as of yet.

sal_III wrote: »

Why is she not on the electoral roll? Any UK resident has the right to vote in local elections and can be on the electoral roll.

She cannot be enrolled to the register because she is not a British citizen. We live on the Wirral and this is an extract from their council website.

"Who can register to vote?
In order to register to vote you must:

• live in the electoral area
• be at least 18 years old or due to become 18 during the registration period
• be a British, Irish, Commonwealth citizen or citizen of a European Union country"

Maybe you're getting confused with EU citizens?

Thanks everyone so far with their replies. It's a minefield this mortgage malarkey :think:

[Deleted User]

Ben1989 wrote: »

Yes, this is the correct avenue to go down I think.



Are mortgage advisers used to this situation so are aware of lenders regarding no electoral roll registration? I don't want an adviser thinking they know what to do and then we get refused. First time buyer so not used to advisers as of yet.

To be honest there aren't many lenders that insist on voters roll. Accord got funny with me on one but were fine after explanation. I am 99% sure that Platform decline outright if not on voters roll.
A broker doesn't know all the answers right away but a decent broker will call the lender they want to use to clarify grey areas to make sure it wont cause an issue.
Get a recommendation from a friend or a co-worker or something and go from there.

muhandis

I know for a fact that plenty of my colleagues from non-EU, non-commonwealth countries (primarily China) on Tier 2 visas (not even ILR) have bought properties in London on mortgages. Off the top of my head, it's mostly been Halifax but that might be more due to the limited visa rather than the electoral roll.

I guess Chinese citizens can't be on the electoral register either so it can't be that difficult to get your wife on the mortgage.

I would definitely see a broker in your place.

Good luck!

Ben1989 wrote: »

Hi everyone.

My wife is a US citizen and we’re hoping to buy a house soon. At least, that’s what we hope to do.

I’m British and on the electoral roll. My wife holds Idefinite Leave to Remain and thus is not on the Electoral Roll as she is not yet a citizen.

She has a held a credit card for a long time, routinely pays it off and regularly gets her limit increased. I think from that perspective she’s fine from a credit side and after doing checks in the likes of Experian she scores excellent. Myself too.

However, I am worried about how much of an impact not being on the Electoral Roll has? I don’t want to apply for AIP’s and run the risk of it being declined. Are there certain things we can do to mitigate the risk with this? Can you inform the electoral roll she is not eligible but still hold her details on file?

Thank you in advance

kingstreet

We routinely do mortgages for those on Tier 1 & Tier 2 visas who have been in the UK for very short periods in some cases. We have three "go to" lenders for these cases.

We match the right client to the right lender and never have an issue with the VR as they simply can't be on it.

Did a Chinese T2 visa holder application this very morning.