Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Emigrating to the UK and Looking to Purchase a Property
The cost of relocating yourself and your family to a new country must be huge. When you get to the UK, in most places, the cost of renting a property is also huge so it’s no wonder a lot of people looking to buy a property as quickly as possible.
Mortgages in the UK can be difficult to understand at the best of times, let alone if you are moving to the UK from a country that has different rules and requirements for getting a property. We get a fair amount of enquiries from Foreign Nationals that have recently moved to the UK and would like to know what they have to do to purchase a property in the UK. We thoughts we’d put a short guide together to help give some pointers to start with!
It’s important to point out, first of all, most lenders will require you to have a Tier 1 of Tier 2 visa in order to consider giving you a mortgage. There are a few exceptions to this but the majority of the market will require a Tier 1 or 2 visa. If in doubt, please get in touch and we can let you know if we are able to help.
TIP #1: CREDIT HISTORY
Typically, Mortgage Lenders will need you to have been residing in the country for 6 months prior to considering a mortgage application so to keep your options open you’d need to wait 6 months at least.
When getting a mortgage though, one of the first things a bank or building societies will do is complete a credit check on you. Your credit report will record anything you’ve had registered against you, good or bad, in the last 6 years. This can be bank accounts, mobile phones, registered addresses, credit cards, etc. All of which help build your credit profile. It is no surprise then that one of the biggest issues people face when they have just arrived in the UK is that they don’t have much or any credit.
Therefore, Tip #1 from us is to start building your credit score. We have also written a blog on this that can be found here Building, Maintaining and preparing your credit score. There are also a number of helpful websites such as https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score/.
TIP #2: HOW MUCH CAN YOU BORROW
In the UK, there are a number of factors that will impact the amount you can borrow. Income, Outgoings, Credit Score, Length of Mortgage, size of the deposit, etc. On top of this, every lender will assess your situation slightly differently and lend different amounts. This can make it very difficult to know which lender is going to be best for you and who will lend you the amount you need.
Therefore, Tip #2 from us is to speak with a Broker and find out how much you can borrow.
Our initial conversations take around 15-20 minutes. We’ll ask for some information on your financial position and we’ll be able to give you a clear idea of how much you’ll be able to borrow. Throughout the conversation, we’ll be able to answer any questions you may have and give you a clear idea of how it works.
For queries related to debt consolidation and remortgage, click here!
TIP #3: DEPOSIT
The simple rule here is ‘the smaller your deposit, the higher your credit score needs to be’. For example, someone that has 6 years of credit history, no missed payments, is on the electoral roll, and doesn’t have a huge amount of debt currently should be able to get a mortgage with a 5-10% deposit. However, someone that has just moved to the country, isn’t on the electoral roll, and hasn’t ever had a mobile phone or credit card would struggle and may need more like a 20-25% deposit.
Therefore, Tip #3 from us is the same as Tip #2, SPEAK TO A BROKER! We can’t emphasis this enough really. Although there are mortgage products available if you have a 5-10% deposit, it doesn’t mean they are available for everyone. During our chat, we’ll be able to gauge from your situation whether it is likely you’ll qualify for a mortgage with a smaller deposit. Ultimately it would be subject to a credit check by the lender but we do this every day so will be able to give more of an indication as to how much you may need to save in your specific situation.
If you’re looking for a Broker or Mortgage Advisors in Bristol, who can manage your mortgage application from start to finish click here.
We have put together a number of helpful blogs that may be relevant to your situation. A few ones to check out are:
10 questions for First Time Buyers.
If you have recently come to the country for the first time and you have set up your own business and are self-employed, this blog may help. Mortgages for the Self Employed
You can contact us to discuss your situation via *email* (email link), a *website enquiry* (enquiry page link) or on our Office Number: 0117 332 5197.
Best of Luck, we’re here to help if you need us!