GBorder

We moved from the UK to the USA two years ago. We are going to get a new mortgage for our UK property as our current lender does not want to deal with us now that we are ex pats! Could you please recommend any company/lender/mortgage broker who specialises in mortgages for UK ex pats? Thank you very much in advance.

Giantaxe

Unless your mortgage deed explicitly gives them the right to terminate the loan if you are living abroad, or you have broken the terms of the mortgage in some other fashion, I don't see how they can dump you.

Buy to let loans for expats have become increasingly difficult to obtain as many lenders have left that market. There have been a few threads over on the mbttuk board on what options still exist.

Pulaski

Unless you expect to return and live in the house at some point (not just return to the UK, but specifically that house), or keep it as rental until you die, you'd be better off selling it before the third anniversary so as to avoid the CGT that will become payable if you have not lived in it for two of the last five years.

sir_eccles

There was another similar thread recently

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=mortgage

ottotheboar

A couple of years ago I kicked around the idea of buying a house.
The Halifax who we are with now and have been for the last 18 years were flat our not interested.
HSBC indicated that with a good sized down payment of say 20% it may be possible.

Pulaski

Lloyds-Halifax is "shrinking its balance sheet", in other words reducing the value of loans on its books, by accepting repayments but making few loans, and those that are higher risk, such as buy to let and expat mortgages are market segments that L-H and others have largely or entirely withdrawn from.

ottotheboar

I get the impression we are tolerated by the Halifax possibly as we have around 18 months to go on the mortgage.
They are very clear we can not refinance or modify the loan in any way.

PegsC

Which bank did you bank with and can they not change your mortgage terms to a buy to let rates?

mikelincs

Very few UK mortgage lenders will lend on a 'Buy to Let' mortgage, and even less to someone mot living in the UK. Were you trying to change the terms of your mortgage, otherwise I don't see how they can stop, however if you were wanting to change to a 'buy to Let' system, or changing your mortgage so you would be covered if you were to rent it out, then they will have the right to refuse to change the terms of the mortgage that you signed up for.

nun

Well hard luck on the mortgage provider. Tell them to "sling their hook" and keep paying the mortgage if that's what you want to do.

TimNiceBut

If the OP is renting out the house they have to get permission from the lender to do so if the house was bought as their primary residence. A lot of lenders have clauses in their contracts that basically state you can't leave the house empty for longer than a specific number of days/year, too...

My lender would only give permission for me to rent out my UK home until I got an offer above the loan balance, despite them assuring me a year prior that getting permission to rent out the house would "not be a problem at all". I ended up having to sell the house shortly before house prices started picking up .

dunroving

Try the Money Centre.

dunroving

I think a lot of people (not just ex-pats) are getting caught out by this sort of situation. I agree that legally they may have a right to refuse to remortgage you if your circumstances have changed but I think ethically it's pretty despicable if you are still able to pay the mortgage. I'm surprised the UK government haven't stepped in to legislate against this sort of unfair play.

JAJ

Legally, they cannot force repayment of the mortgage if the borrower emigrates, unless the terms of the mortgage allow them to do so.

However, if the property is being let out, they do normally have the right to give (or refuse) consent. And normally, they will surcharge the interest rate if they do give consent. That said, the only way they can enforce this is by starting repossession proceedings.

Although it's understandable that some may perceive it as some kind of safety net, keeping a house in the United Kingdom following a permanent move to another country is normally more trouble than it's worth. In 90%+ of cases, the best advice is to sell the house and move on.

Pulaski

Agreed. Even if you return to the UK, unless you move back into the same house it can still make for a messy tax situation. It works for some, others get into a mess, so the risk averse should lean towards selling when they emigrate or risk bad tenants, property damage, expensive "void periods" between tenants, and expensive but routine repairs that the rent does not cover.