Bomjeito

It is official after over 5 years in Houston and twins later, we are moving back to Scotland.

Sadly, we did close current accounts and sold our home in Aberdeen.

So we start over. A quick search online makes it appear mortgages are a tough find for those not resident. Does anyone have any experience in making this move?

We are moving back with husband's employer so we have the normal relocation situation (husband is from Scotland, I am from USA. Visas are not an issue - we've done this before, and it is being sorted by the same mob that did mine before as we speak.)

We hoped to move into our next home as opposed to renting first.

We called HSBC Global and they said simply, "no." Not until we are resident.

We have any deposits that are required (up to 25%.)

It just seems a bit unbelievable that no one will set up a mortgage in the UK without us being present and resident. Is this true?

Bomjeito

No one needed a mortgage on return?

holly_1948

I have no experience of this.
But a quick google suggests you should be talking to Barclays Bank.
Bear in mind that sales by sealed bid auction are common in Scotland.

mikelincs

a google search for expat mortgages might well answer your questions, I know that people have had problems, and that they can be very difficult to get as you will, almost certainly, have no credit rating in the UK.

cyrian

Barclays don't have many branches in Scotland - depends where you live.
Sealed bids can happen but only where the market is buoyant or there are several people chasing the same house.
I have owned 5 houses in Scotland and never been involved in sealed bids.
I sold one of these and it went to sealed bids.

hereorthere

hi ya, i don't know if this helps but i moved back from Perth just over 2 years ago and was told that the banks probably wouldn't lend to us because we hadn't been resident in the previous 3 years (we spent 8 years in Aus). Mortgage advisor said that it wasn't impossible to get a mortgage but we would probably be looking at higher lending rates and at only a few select lenders.

To be honest it really piddled me off but i guess due to the financial crisis it's made the banks tighten up on lending.

i wish you lots of luck with your move

007fair

So if you had to do the move again knowing you would be back in 5 years - would you have rented your house out in aberdeen instead? Would that have worked for you renting in the US?

brits1

Hi,

We was offered a mortgage with Halifax while we were living in Australia, we informed them we were still overseas and that we were returning to the UK and wanted to buy a home before we arrived back and they asked for a JP to certify our pay, UK passports etc and we were offered an Mortgage that had a slightly higher rate than current ones but we could transfer to another mortgage once back in the UK. We did not have an account with the Halifax either, HSBC who we did have an account with also offered us an mortgage (same requirements) but with much higher rates. I am now glad we did not buy the home we put an offer in as when we returned we realised we wanted to be in a different area completely which did take us by surprise. Good luck

scot47

Sealed bids are not common in Scotland. Be aware that house buying procedures and property law are quite different here. Different legal jurisdiction to England.