Mortgage Brokers

[Kaladran]

Hi all,

My fiance and I will be moving from Canada to London in mid-July, I have dual citizenship (Canadian/British) and she "should" be coming on a co-habitat partner visa that my company is arranging.

When we arrive my company will provide an apartment for 2 months, after which we need to have our own accommodations. We would definitely like to purchase a home as we are not big fans of renting, but we know it will be difficult. With this in mind I was wondering if anyone had any mortgage broker suggestions. Is there anyone who specializes in dealing with ex-pats? I'm hoping to avoid the ex-pat mortgage with my dual citizenship but I know that may not be enough.

Thanks in advance.

[nyclon]

The problem is you will have no credit history. It's optimistic to think you'll be able to get a motgage without first building up some credit history and you're not going to do that in 2 months. Dual citizenship isn't going to make any difference.

[Kaladran]

Originally Posted by nyclon

The problem is you will have no credit history. It's optimistic to think you'll be able to get a motgage without first building up some credit history and you're not going to do that in 2 months. Dual citizenship isn't going to make any difference.

That's what I was worried about... Will they give an expat mortgage? Or will we need to rent for 1 - 2 years.

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by Kaladran

That's what I was worried about... Will they give an expat mortgage? Or will we need to rent for 1 - 2 years.

Your case is called non-status or sub-prime mortgage and the number of companies offering such deals have plummeted since the start of the credit squeeze about 5 years ago. But not all is lost, and if you are in a good job with long-term visa, it's worth contacting specialist brokers who may be able to help. As I don't give financial advice, google UK 'mortgage with no credit history' and a couple of brokers are returned. Expect high deposit (up to 50%) and high interest.

It takes about 2 years to build up a good credit history from scratch which will enable you to get standard mortgage deals.

[Kitara]

I am also new.. no bank will allow me to apply for mortgage..

Maybe you have a better contract term.. you can give it a try..

[Sam2012]

I'm actually a mortgage broker, and have been on this forum as I'm in the process applying for a fiancee visa for my partner.

It is possible for expats to the UK to get a mortgage here without a credit history. It's true that it's difficult to get a mortgage with high street lenders, however many of these lenders have an international division that are used to clients with little credit history. If you work for a large company, ideally multi national then it should be relatively straight forward.

You'll need to have a deposit, minimum being 15% of the purchase price and the rates are circa 4.5% for standard clients. With a deposit of 25% of the purchase price you can get a rate of circa 3.69%. There are better products (0.5%-1% lower) available if you meet certain income/savings criteria as well.

They normally want you to have been with your employer for at least 6 months, though if you are moving to the UK with the same company we could take that in to account. In any event it'll probably take 6 months for you to settle in the UK and find a suitable property.

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[DPK]

Try one of the bigger long established brokers like "John Charcoal". They should be able to give you some advise based on your personal situation.

Each case should be viewed on individual merit.

[Kitara]

Sam2012:

Any advice where to save this 25% in a bank without getting tax?

i am aware about isa but the limit is only 5600.. 25% deposit can be a minimum of £25 000!!

[Kaladran]

Originally Posted by Sam2012

I'm actually a mortgage broker, and have been on this forum as I'm in the process applying for a fiancee visa for my partner.

It is possible for expats to the UK to get a mortgage here without a credit history. It's true that it's difficult to get a mortgage with high street lenders, however many of these lenders have an international division that are used to clients with little credit history. If you work for a large company, ideally multi national then it should be relatively straight forward.

You'll need to have a deposit, minimum being 15% of the purchase price and the rates are circa 4.5% for standard clients. With a deposit of 25% of the purchase price you can get a rate of circa 3.69%. There are better products (0.5%-1% lower) available if you meet certain income/savings criteria as well.

They normally want you to have been with your employer for at least 6 months, though if you are moving to the UK with the same company we could take that in to account. In any event it'll probably take 6 months for you to settle in the UK and find a suitable property.

*****************

Thank you all this is really helpful. The company does have international offices and I am being transferred retaining my 5 years seniority. They are not the biggest company around (and are not that used to transferring people) but have mentioned that they would be ok to give the brokers any reassurances they need. My contract is full-time permanent and comes with a decent salary, and depending on the type of place we find we should be able to have the 15% down.

It sounds like I may need to find a short term let regardless, which will be interesting as we are bringing our dog and cat. But that will probably be a topic for another thread

[Sam2012]

Originally Posted by Kitara

Sam2012:

Any advice where to save this 25% in a bank without getting tax?

i am aware about isa but the limit is only 5600.. 25% deposit can be a minimum of £25 000!!

Kitara, other than ISAs I'm not aware of any straight forward tax free ways to save for a deposit.