The Client:
Our client lives in the Czech Republic. He has been living there circa 13 years where he is employed full time managing a school and also owns his residential property in the Czech Republic. In addition, the client owns another residential property in the UK which has no mortgage on it. The client earns the equivalent of £60k per annum in Czech Republic.
The Scenario:
The client wished to buy a Study Flat as a Buy-to-Let property in the UK. There are some difficulties with this situation. The first thing to consider is – will a studio flat be accepted? In this case, the studio is over 35sqm and in a block of flats under 5 stories. The other main problem is the country he lives in.
Countries within the EEA are typically not considered by many lenders. Also, because he has been out of the UK for such a long period and doesn’t have a mortgage on his UK residential, he won’t have a great credit score here as he has no credit footprint as such.
The Solution:
Being a whole-of-market Broker, we have the knowledge to know that some lenders will allow studios, especially over 30sqm. There are also more lenders that will accept flats in blocks of 5 or under, so these two things together do give us options. There are a limited number of different lenders that are really good with EEA countries, even if the majority aren’t.
This also happens to coincide with a sensible approach to providing credit for an expat if their reason for a low credit score is purely down to the fact they live outside the country. With all this in mind, we secured a lender with competitive rates that could lend.
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Summary:
Experienced Mortgage Brokers are able to secure lending with extremely complicated setups and situations that would invariably be seen as undesirable to most lenders.
Key things to consider for Expats:
- Some lenders will allow the purchase of studios as long as they are over a certain size, in a block of 5 stories or under.
- Some lenders will allow the Expat to live in an EEA country and purchase in the UK.
- Some lenders will take a sensible approach to low credit scores in the UK if the only reason for it, is simply that they do not live here and have much credit here.
Summary:
Whole of market Mortgage Brokers with CeMAP qualified Advisors are always able to look at creative ways in which to solve complex scenarios such as this.
If you have any questions relating to Buy to Let Mortgages, contact us today to speak directly with one of our CeMAP certified Mortgage Advisors. Call us today on 03303 112 646. Alternatively, please complete this short online form one of our Advisors will call you right back.