Benny2

Hi everyone,

I spent almost 3 years teaching English in China around 2005 - 2008 kind of time. I then moved back to the UK, and have been working there ever since in a different field.

My employer sent me on a posting to China for most of the last year, which I really enjoyed, and although there is the possibility of staying for another year, it probably wouldn't be longer than that.

I've long since been tempted to return to China to teach, as I miss the lifestyle, the place and the people 😀, and find my job here a bit boring.

I have a mortgage in the UK. I was wondering if anyone has received consent to let their property from a mortgage lender to go and do this? I wonder if I would no longer meet the lending criteria under these circumstances (if say, for example, I was employed by a Chinese university). If I didn't still meet the existing lending criteria, I wonder if they'd grant consent to let. I'd need to let it out to keep paying the mortgage. I intend to ask the lender, but thought it would be good to get a heads up from others who've tried this.

Also, what percentage of income / amount of money are you allowed to send home from the PRC?
If the above were possible, I'd like to also make additional overpayments and keep up with national insurance contributions.
I've tried Google but have seen varying explanations.

Thanks for any information any one may have!

ex reg

I let out my house while working overseas, not PRC, and didn't have any problems, but make sure you are happy with your letting agency or estate agents.

Yes make sure you keep up your NI payments.

The rooles used to be that you required 30 years of payments in order to qualify for a pension but you could alter payments from Class 1 to Class 3.

Benny2

Thanks for the reply ex reg. Whereabouts were you? Were you employed in the country you were living and paid in their local currency or was it a posting overseas from a UK employer. I think this might make a difference. They were fine with me doing it when sent by a UK employer but the contract would be totally different if it weren't, and I think they might say I wouldn't fit the lending criteria.

ex reg

HK, Malaysia, Singapore.
Mostly UK employers but not always.
In Malaysia I was paid locally iirc but that was 30 years ago.

In those days I remember walking into my bank and asking for a £60k mortgage, quite a lot in those days, and the manager just about stuffed the dosh into my pockets it was so easy.

HKG3

You, as an individual, can transfer US$50,000 out of PRC per year.

You can take RMB 20,000 out each time you cross the Chinese border.

If your job in China is located close to Hong Kong, I would suggest is that you open HSBC bank accounts in both the UK and Hong Kong. You can travel to Hong Kong with your RMB and then deposit it into your HSBC Hong Kong bank account. As Hong Kong has no foreign exchange controls, you can exchange your RMB into HK$ first and then to GBP (£). You then can send your GBP in your Hong Kong HSBC account to your UK HSBC account.

uk_vette

Just be careful,

HSBC in mainland China is not affiliated to HSBC UK.

Totally separate banks.

vette