UK Expats in ME - assistance required

[Caged]

Posting after a long time hoping somebody may have any info I can work with.

In a nutshell, I'm looking to buy a house in the UK whilst continuing to work here. I commute so wife and kids will be living there (UK).

Anybody know of or have experience of any lenders willing to give guys like us a mortgage? The mainstream banks don't want to go near us. A couple of specialist lenders I've spoken to who do expat/overseas mortgages will only do it under certain terms and conditions...one wanted £150,000 security payment - aside from deposit! The other will only do it if I borrow more than £350,000! They must think we're all loaded out here :}

[BigGeordie]

I have mortgages with Clydesdale Bank and HSBC in the UK. The former is residential the latter buy to let. Both fairly easy to set up. Skipton International in Jersey also do mortgages. I have the name of a fairly good broker I can dig out if you want it but you can do it all yourself.

[CAT3A]

HSBC has no problem.

I spoke with HSBC branch in Crawley few months back (trying to buy a flat in Uk) and they were ok with the mortgage.

I also try Halifax and Santander before with no luck.

[falconeasydriver]

Avoid the Halifax, they are about as helpful as TB, Lloyds offshore in the Isle of Mann are truly awesome, mortgage available in USD (helps with currency fluctuations). Just a thought.

[777boyo]

Caged,

I'd strongly suggest that you get some advice from a reputable firm of UK Tax advisors before you go ahead. The changes with effect from last year and the Statutory Residence Tests now being applied by HMRC to determine whether you are Resident or Non Resident for tax purposes would justify the advice, especially if you intend to commute, with your wife/kids resident in a house held in your name in UK, and which would be available for your occupation on UK visits.

If you'd like to PM me, I can send you a copy of the relevant HMRC document, but as with all Government docs, its open to interpretation and my/your interpretation is likely to differ markedly (and potentially very expensively) from that of HMRC.

Fry and Co have a good reputation for Tax advice; just for the record, I have no connection to Fry's whatsoever. Getting professional advice might just save you a small fortune.

Apologies if I'm teaching Granny to suck eggs!

7B

[Capetonian]

I had no problem as non-res in getting 'buy to let' mortgages direct from Birmingham Midshires. I believe they are, or were, part of Halifax. They were helpful, flexible, and efficient to deal with - quite a rarity when one talks about banking institutions.

I believe now they only offer the service through IFAs.

[Luke SkyToddler]

Father-in-law who's not a pilot but is an expat in Saudi, had no probs getting one from his offshore bank which is Lloyds Isle of Man.

Had to put it in the wife's name though, and be very very careful with regard to a couple of other issues that came up involving his UK non-resident tax status, strongly suggest you get professional advice on that one because they've tightened up a lot even in the last couple of years

[helen-damnation]

Just for the record and in the interests of balanced discussion:

I wouldn't touch Frys with a pooh covered stick. A colleague was shafted by them and ended up paying a fixed amount when overflying UK airspace even when not arriving/departing the UK!

You may wish to contact several "advisors" before making a decision!

HD

[777boyo]

Just to clarify - my previous post was not so much about the difficulties or otherwise of getting a mortgage to buy a property in the UK, but rather a warning of the potential tax pitfalls of owning a property there which is to be occupied full time by wife and kids while you commute to/from an overseas location to visit them on a regular basis on days-off or vacation. The new residence tests applied by HMRC can be a minefield for commuters who have accommodation available to them on UK visits - for example, a room permanently available in even parents house can, in some circumstances, be sufficient to meet one of HMRC's new tests and have the effect, in combination with other tests, of making you resident for tax purposes and therefore liable to tax on your worldwide income. It really is worth investigating and getting some serious advice.

As far as Helen-D's post above goes, it just goes to show that you need to shop around and make your own selection of an Advisor. I know several pilots in SIN and HKG who are very happy with Fry's Tax advice - the opinion of their financial planning advice is not always as positive. Caveat Emptor.

7B

[Caged]

Thanks for all your replies. Some valuable advice here which I will look into. The main issue we're having is that most lenders have really tightened their rules and criteria since April this year when the government introduced the mortgage market review. This basically calls for tougher and very stringent assessments of applications before making any offers. Unfortunately we're being declined left, right and centre before the application is even submitted (on the bright side, at least it saves us from paying application fees which can run into the hundreds each time to be told the same thing :ok:).

It's early days of this new ruling and all the banks seem to be running scared....so slightly more complex cases like us are untouched from the outset. Each day our luck wears thinner and hearing the words "sorry we can't help" are becoming the norm. :ugh:

[Vortex Thing]

We had our principal private residence in UK whilst I commuted. We worked 8 wks on 4 weeks off. In that job I had to just be careful to ensure that I didn't spend more than 93 days a year in UK and all was well.

We had lived in the house for a 4 yrs before I went out to that job and luckily I have plenty of tax advice and chartered accountants in the family who went through it with a fine tooth comb to be certain of implications. One of whom was an HMRC tax inspector. I would argue I had some reasonable a dive.

Then I moved to THY where I worked 27 days on and 3 days a month in UK. Again as less than 93 days in UK no issue again. Some of the guys on first job did have issues as they spent between 180 and 93 days in UK which gave some liability but it is only if you pass more than 6 months in the UK that you have full responsibility.

Now we are in DXB house in UK is rented out to tenants we asked HMRC if they would like the income declared and they said they weren't interested at all as we made and make no profit on the property at all.

Our main mortgage is with Lloyds and prior to that Cheltenham & Glos and I have spoken to various to various brokers and lenders all of whom offer numerous banks who will happily lend to expats.

I do note that you want your family to live back in UK and then complain that you don't want a mortgage of £350k not sure where you are from in UK but that is a pretty small 2 bed apartment in London! and a 3 bed starter semi in most of the south east so its not like they are talking a huge amount!

[BDiONU]

Mortgage for Non UK Resident.. - British Expats (http://britishexpats.com/forum/middle-east-60/mortgage-non-uk-resident-840180/)

[mini cooper]

I have contact in the UK who has looked after my UK tax for a number of years. He lived in Bahrain for some time and so knows the area. When the law changed in the UK (which I think was to stop accountants being able to give you financial / tax advice) he became qualified as a financial advisor, so is qualified in both fields and has some good contacts which may be useful to you.
If you'd like his details PM me and I'll send them on to you.

[Jolly Foreigner]

These guys did the business for me when we were looking to fund another UK property. All done very professionally and they pass through Dubai a few times a year so at least you can meet them face to face.

Expat Mortgages UK - Special Mortgages for UK Expats (http://www.international-mortgage-plans.com/)

JF :ok:

[Caged]

Thanks again guys.

Vortex...thanks for the advice. As for house prices, we aren't looking in London, hence such a large figure isn't required and we have a decent deposit.

Jolly foreigner...you're the second person to recommend these guys in a day and I'd never heard of them even after numerous searches. They seem pretty good and I'm waiting for a call back. Will let you know how things go.