nathan70

Hi,

I lived in Tokyo until 2016 so I thought I was ready for the infamously high rents in London but how wrong I was! I'm renting a small three-bed home in the burbs and it's costing almost 23 grand a year including council tax. It's money down the drain really and the catch is I can't put aside enough savings for a deposit on a mortgage. Being in my forties I guess doesn't make it easier to qualify

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here knows if it would be possible to secure a UK mortgage using my home in Tokyo as collateral? I read somewhere that it might be possible with a bank that has operations in both Japan and the UK, but I don't know if there are any.

Cheers,

N

Moses2013

Don't know of any banks and the risks would be too high + EU regulations (UK is still in EU).
The question should be why you aren't renting out your home in Tokyo, or if you plan to stay in London, why not sell if you have equity?

christmasoompa

Could you not move further out of London? Even if it's only to save money for a deposit, and then move back in once you are in a position to buy.

nathan70

I am renting out the Tokyo home. What EU regulations are you referring to? Thx.

nathan70

Yes, that’s one of my regrets. I moved back to London because of familiarity and the job market but now that my kids are finally getting settled in at school they’d find the upheaval of another move hard to handle. With hindsight, I should have done as you’ve suggested.

mikemike

Try HSBC, I do not believe that they have a retail service in Japan, they did have corporate banking.

Also there Japanese banks in London? Would they have links to a Japanese bank that you may have an account with, if you had one.

Moses2013

No Expert in banking, but I would assume the ECB (European Central Bank) regulate the mortgage market. https://europa.eu/european-union/abo...entral-bank_en

nathan70

I’ve not heard of Japanese banks offering UK mortgages but I suppose it’s possible that they might, just not overtly. Worth looking into. Thanks!

Brigette

Why is age a problem in the UK to secure a mortgage? Left UK when I was 6 so not familiar with age and obtaining a mortgage. I know in the US 40 is considered young. Heck you can even get a mortgage well into your fifties and sixties. Why is this a problem in the UK?

nathan70

Well, I’m just going on what I’ve read on various websites. Assuming a typical mortgage would be repaid over 25 years, starting out at 50 would mean repaying until you’re 75. Perhaps if you’re self-employed it might be seen differently but if you’re a typical company employee, you’re looking at retiring at 60 or 65. Of course if you can put down a huge deposit, that would offset some of the risk but on the whole banks are probably happier lending to someone who will have paid off their loan while still in employment. But your mileage may vary, as they say in the States.

sayang

Banks are very reluctant/ refuse to have mortgages that continue past retirement age - they will want to see evidence that you can either pay it off on retirement, or that you will have enough retirement income to continue paying a mortgage.

As standard mortgage length is 25 years, this means that getting a new one past age 40 is trickier - or you have to go with a shorter mortgage period

For most people it isn't a problem, because they would have plenty of equity in house, so even if buying a more expensive house, very unlikely to need 25 year mortgage past age 40. In many cases, it won't be a new mortgage, but they will carry their old mortgage over with same end date, but higher payments

Mortgages in the UK are very different from the US - normally the max you can fix interest rate is 5 years. Most people either have floating (ARM in US speak) or 2 year fixes

scot47

Come and rent on Bute ! You can get a secure tenancy here in a 2-bedroom flat for £340 a month !

Giantaxe

It's ageism imo. No reason why retirement income can't be treated like any other income. In fact, pensions etc are likely to be a more secure form of income than earned income, given that people can and do lose their jobs over the course of holding a mortgage.

Yes, US mortgages are more commonly fixed for the full 30 or 15 year term. But the reason why it's easier to get a mortgage when older here is that it is illegal to discriminate against one form of income (i.e. social security, individual retirement account distributions.. ) over another.

Quite surprised there haven't been legal challenges in the UK.

scot47

The great distortion in the economy of GB and NI is a result of the emphasis on PROPERTY. In other countries people are happy renting and invest, through their pension funds, in industry. Here there is an obsession with buyingg houses. And speculating in them !

uk_grenada