MortgagesJul 19 2016

National Counties launches expat mortgage

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National Counties launches expat mortgage

National Counties Building Society has launched an owner-occupier mortgage for UK nationals working abroad.

The new product is also open to UK or foreign nationals with permanent rights to reside and work in the UK who are paid partly or wholly in a foreign currency.

Director of business development Keith Barber said: “In the post- Brexit referendum hiatus, we saw a clear gap in the market for expats and those working in the UK, but paid partly in foreign currency.

“National Counties has for many years offered buy-to-let mortgages for expats and now is the time to roll this product out for owner-occupiers,” he added.

The terms of the Expat mortgage are that the property must be the borrowers’ main home and currently be used by them and/or family members.

If the borrowers are not currently living in the property, then they must intend to return to it at a future date.

However, in the event that the borrowers’ circumstances change in future, no further lending or variation of the mortgage terms (including product switch) will be possible.

The mortgage is available on an interest-only basis and the borrowers will need to have an acceptable repayment strategy using UK based Sterling assets.

Foreign nationals must have a permanent or indefinite right to reside in the UK and the applicant must be employed (self-employed is not acceptable).

National Counties pointed out this is not a foreign currency mortgage under the Mortgage Credit Directive.

For expat applications, the completion fee charged will be the standard product fee or large loan fee (whichever is higher) plus 1 per cent.

peter.walker@ft.com