Gatehouse Bank – Helping your Foreign National and UK Expat clients

Data published by HM Land Registry for April 2022* shows that house prices for new mortgages are still high compared to the previous year which suggests that low housing stock is starting to have an impact on the number of buyers seeking mortgages. Many people are acting on their long-held plans to move home, with a number of them still searching for larger homes to accommodate new hybrid and remote working lifestyles.

When it comes to rate rises, the Bank of England’s direction of travel is well understood. All buyers will be conscious that to act quickly will mean they’ll likely beat further increases. This rush to secure properties sooner rather than later is probably going to keep approvals above the pre-pandemic norm until at least the summer though continued softening is expected if stock levels do not start to bounce back.

Here at Gatehouse Bank we are seeing an increase in Buy-to-Let applications from UK residents, foreign nationals based in the UK, UK Expats, and international residents looking to purchase property in England or Wales to make to make the most of the UK stock. Many are first-time buyers and first-time landlords looking to invest in our ever-popular property market. Our products are competitive and increasingly brokers are looking to place cases with us for clients based in the UK, China, the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia, Australasia, North and South America – often for clients who have never even set foot in the UK.

How can Gatehouse Bank help?

We recently arranged finance for a Macau based resident who had no UK credit history, and we were able to complete on his first investment in London – this client came to us via an intermediary and was doubtful that he would be able to achieve his dream of investing in a prime London property – we were able to compete this case with a finance of £960,000 at 80%.

This type of case is not unusual for Gatehouse Bank, and neither is one for a UK resident looking to start or grow their property investment journey. This client was a self-employed individual in their forties who recognised the potential of investing in UK property and wanted to diversify their investments. Gatehouse Bank accept Buy-to-Let finance applications from the age of 21 with no maximum age limit at end of finance term (unless top slicing). We welcome applications from first time landlords as well as portfolio landlords where existing property ownership is not a requirement (with no limit on the number of properties). We do not have any early payment charges across our entire range and our criteria makes us an attractive and agile option for new and seasoned property investors regardless of whether they’re based in the UK or internationally.

To speak to your local BDM on how Gatehouse can help your customers, click here.

*https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/housepriceindex/april2022