Mortgage for Non UK Citizen – how long do you have to live in the UK

A) There are two main tests at play:
Lender Policy
Mortgage Lender’s policy which may be as simple as stating “you must have been a resident of the UK for at least 2 years before we will consider lending”, straight-forward and easy to follow.

Credit Score
This part requires an element of prediction as you are up against a computer which allocates points on various aspects of your UK credit profile. You are not privy to the exact workings but it would look at items such as length of time in the UK, past UK credit conduct, closeness to credit limits on credit cards/overdrafts, income, age, nature of employment, employment history, mortgage experience etc.

One key component of credit score is a listing on the UK Voters Roll which you will not have so you are starting for a point of disadvantage.

You will need “active” UK credit and we would recommend you obtain a multi-agency credit report to monitor your credit rating, we would commend this one from Check-my-file, please click here

Once you have Credit Report you should then discuss this with your Mortgage Broker together with the length of time you have been in the UK.

A) We have a number of Lenders that do not have a minimum time in the UK.

A) In theory, there are two ways that I know of but this will ultimately come down to the credit score which often pushes the deposit requirement up to 10 to 15%.

A) Here are the rules for the two Mortgage Lenders:
Lender 1
The applicants must have a combined income of at least £100,000. Income includes basis salary, overtime, bonus and commission. All other components of income are not usable towards this target figure.

Lender 2
You must buy, live and make a joint application with someone who has indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

A) See answer to the 5% deposit question above, if you do not fit either of these two Mortgage Lender’s rules then it’s likely that you will need to wait 2 years.

A) Yes, there are a growing band of Mortgage Lenders that will consider lending if you have only been in the UK for a short time. You must have an “active” UK credit profile.

A) It can do, individual Mortgage Lenders will have their own rules on this and generally its 1 year remaining. You should also check whether this period runs from the application date or the date the mortgage starts which could be a few months on.

I do have a smaller number of Mortgage Lenders that have no minimum time left on the Visa.

In all instances you need to think carefully about the ramifications of your Visa running out, should it not get renewed, and the likelihood of having to sell up.

A) Nearly all of the UK Mortgage Lenders active in this market want you to be a UK residential home owner first so you effectively cannot do this as soon as you arrive. There is one mainstream Mortgage Lender that I know of with “high street” rates that I know of that will take a view but you will need to be on very good income (probably at least a higher rate tax payer) and the credit score would also need to be good – it’s a long shot – furthermore the property cannot be bought under a limited company it must be in your personal names. Other high street options come into play after 3 to 5 years in the UK. There are also “specialist banks” who may consider a short time in the UK but their rates are sky high which mean the expected rental income has to be exceptional to make affordability fit and the investment project worthwhile.