Expat Mortgage - UK Property

sac920

Hi All. I need your help! 
My partner and I bought our house in the UK back in 2017 and have been tied to a mortgage with the lender. In June 2021 we relocated to Spain and decided to rent out our home in the UK & switched over to Content to Let with the lender. Our 5 year deal is coming to an end in March and we will switch over to a standard variable rate. Now, I've spoken to our lender in an effort to obtain a better deal and they said that they are not going to be able to help us with a Buy to Let mortgage as we are living in Spain and apparently it's not in the approved country list...according to them we will need an Expat mortgage. I spoke to a broker and he said having investigated his sources there's only 1 lender that will be willing to work with us, the Family Building Society and they want to tie us into a 5 year Interest Only deal (overpayments allowed)....can anyone else please provide me with any other options? I had no idea that us moving would be so problematic. We knew that the Buy to Let mortgages would have higher rates but we didn't anticipate any problems in getting a deal, especially given that we have tenants for our home and our salaries have increased since taking out the original mortgage 5 years ago. 
I am really lost so if any of you can recommend any whole-market-brokers OR any brokers that specialise in Expat mortgages I would appreciate it. Thank you

woahsoah

You'll need to use an expat broker. Plenty of them around if you google. Expect the rates to be considerably higher. You certainly won't be able to borrow at the low rates as if you were a uk resident.

KHDuffy

Hi, in the exact same situ here in Canada. Can't get a remortgage on a fixed rate and currently on a consent to let, which may have to be kept and on a variable rate. If you have any update on how you managed to get remortgaged it would be much appreciated, or be able to point me in any direction of someone I can get advice from. Thanks so much!

amanda_p

My son lives in Shanghai and has a BTL mortgage on a UK property. He used an ex Pat broker and his mortgage is through Skipton BS.

amnblog

Expat Lenders have a number of conditions which cause issues for many applicants.

They may:

Have a minimum loan level that the borrower does not need (typically £250,000)
They typically want the borrower to have an active UK Bank Account 
They may run a UK credit score which is less likely to be passed as time outside the UK increases
They may want the borrower to be working employed for an international business
Decline if the property was or is lived in by you or your family

If Family BS is the option presented to you, and you might fall foul of any of the above, we may assume the Broker has done their research.

For ex pat mortgages 95% of the work is about getting the borrowing, not choosing a Lender or product.