Mortgage in UK and living abroad - remortgage options

Rhadamanthus

Hello, I am looking for advice or suggestions as we feel like we have exhausted pretty much every option at this stage. 
We bought our house in 2013 and lived in it until January 2018, when we moved to Australia. After our fixed period ended in Summer 2018, the mortgage switched to the standard variable rate for a Buy-To-Let property (currently 4.24%).
We would like to lower our monthly repayments as these are currently more than the rental income coming in. Based on a recent property valuation, we have a LTV of 57.3% but we are in a position where we can't remortgage to another product (and interest-only is not an option), due to the following:

• Neither of us is a UK national (we have 2x EU and 1x Australian nationalities between us)
• The property is being rented
• We no longer live in the country and we earn AUD and not GBP, although the rental income (in GBP, via a UK account) could cover the repayments of a cheaper mortgage

Are there any lenders/options that you can recommend for us to try?
Thanks.

[Deleted User]

There are a few High Street lenders that have international lending arms.  Depending on where you live and what currency income is in then you might still have options even if you no longer live in the country 
 

Whats_your_forte

Australia is a tough one due to tax regime. This will limit you to circa 2 lenders. 

amnblog

What rates has your current lender got going forward?

Rhadamanthus

Whats_your_forte said:

Australia is a tough one due to tax regime. This will limit you to circa 2 lenders. 

That's unfortunate - are you able to name the lenders?

Regarding rates from our current lender, we are also unable (not allowed) to change to another of their products.

kingstreet

4.24% is a residential SVR not what you'd expect for a BTL. Did you have consent to let?

Rhadamanthus

kingstreet said:

4.24% is a residential SVR not what you'd expect for a BTL. Did you have consent to let?

I think you're right; I can't see any mention of BTL on the paperwork. We have had consent to let, granted twice (once a year) to us. Unfortunately, that is also an extra expense.

Are there any more unusual mortgage alternatives that we can look into, such as getting an Australian mortgage for the UK property, or maybe getting a friend in the UK to be a guarantor/mortgagee on our behalf?