Buying A Buy-to-let House In The Uk

[Richb2004v2]

I've not lived in the UK (my home country) for almost 5 years and not paid taxes there consistently for around 8 years. I bought a house in the Uk 18 months ago and let it out. I bought it with an expat buy-to-let mortgage which worked out fine for me. I am now hoping to do the same again, but I am wondering if I really need to get the same type of mortgage as they do have a higher interest rate. If I do could anyone recommend a place to go for a good one? I would welcome any advice on this situation or topic, or any advice on where to get good information.

I am looking to move back to the UK in a few years, hopefully after I have a few more rented house. Does anyone see any problems with this plan/

Feel free to move this to a more appropriate forum, as it doesn't really fit in business or property exactly.

Thanks.

[sanmiguellight]

From what i gather if its a but-to-let place you can only get but-to-let mortgages, the only option would be to say its for your official residence and rent it out without telling the mortgage company ... wouldnt have thought theyd care less so long as they receive their money.

Chelsea BS were doing a 10 yr fixed mortgage at 4.5% recently, look into whether they can help.

You'll be looking at a far bigger deposit then what you'd have had to pay 18mths ago.

Edited June 30, 2009 by sanmiguellight

[jackdanielsesq]

Why not approach a Realtor in the county wherein ya wish to purchase?

Let them do all the legwork instead of hypos here.

BR>Jack

[sanmiguellight]

Why not approach a Realtor in the county wherein ya wish to purchase?

Let them do all the legwork instead of hypos here.

BR>Jack

Its not the same in the UK as in America, Estate Agents only sell the place and do <deleted> all else.

[bojo]

Contact a decent financial agent in the UK for ' up to the minute' accurate info on what is available.

TV members with recent experiences might be able to give you a 'hot tip' on what is currently avaible, since I'm sure in the fast changing financial market that we live in, the situation is probably changing weekly.

I'd be interested to hear what an expat mortgage is exactly. For example is it applicable only to UK citizens and how much is the minimum deposit and any other requirements etc. Is it the same as a standard 'buy to let mortgage'?

Regards Bojo

[Ciaphas]

I have used these people in the past and found their service to be spot on.

http://www.mortgagefind.co.uk/index.php

Congratulations on your first house, but a word of caution the buy to let market is incredibly volatile at the moment. Just like saying you hear about Thailand 'Don't invest more than you can afford to loose' I would say the same about the property market in the UK these days. The mortgage market has shrunk considerably since your original purchase, from over 2500 products to around 350. With banks asking for a minimum of 25% deposit. And with the country still in a deep recession and having no idea which way the interest rates will go over the next five years, while rents are falling due to the increase of available properties on the market. It's a huge gamble these days.

[ThaiPauly]

I have used these people in the past and found their service to be spot on.

http://www.mortgagefind.co.uk/index.php

Congratulations on your first house, but a word of caution the buy to let market is incredibly volatile at the moment. Just like saying you hear about Thailand 'Don't invest more than you can afford to loose'

If you are careful about where and what you buy you can still make better returns than having you cash invested in a bank, but I don't know if you can make as much if you have a mortgage?

As you know, agents have to be paid, things break down and have to be repaired, sometimes you are without a tennant and still have to pay the mortgage...not to mention the council tax.

Personally I would not do it unless I wanted to invest cash.

But as far as I am concerned the renal market is quite bouyant right now in the UK. I have just re-let my place in Oxfordshire for 2 years, it took just 2 weeks to find new tennants.

However I did keep the price the same as I had let it at for the last 2 years, I did not want to push my luck in a global recesssion, if I had put the price up by just 20 pounds and it was empty for a month, the whole years gains would have been wiped out.

[Remix4]

I've not lived in the UK (my home country) for almost 5 years and not paid taxes there consistently for around 8 years. I bought a house in the Uk 18 months ago and let it out. I bought it with an expat buy-to-let mortgage which worked out fine for me. I am now hoping to do the same again, but I am wondering if I really need to get the same type of mortgage as they do have a higher interest rate. If I do could anyone recommend a place to go for a good one? I would welcome any advice on this situation or topic, or any advice on where to get good information.

I am looking to move back to the UK in a few years, hopefully after I have a few more rented house. Does anyone see any problems with this plan/

Feel free to move this to a more appropriate forum, as it doesn't really fit in business or property exactly.

Thanks.

For my first property I did not require an expat mortgage and got a normal mortgage for a UK high street bank. I then switched to Lloyds TSB in Singapore who readily lend for UK properties (as well as a few other countries). The rates were much lower than in the UK if you borrow in S$ plus at that time the exchange rate went in my favour.

Their main office for the region are based in Hong Kong. I would check them out and see what they can offer.

[eddiemonster]

I've not lived in the UK (my home country) for almost 5 years and not paid taxes there consistently for around 8 years. I bought a house in the Uk 18 months ago and let it out. I bought it with an expat buy-to-let mortgage which worked out fine for me. I am now hoping to do the same again, but I am wondering if I really need to get the same type of mortgage as they do have a higher interest rate. If I do could anyone recommend a place to go for a good one? I would welcome any advice on this situation or topic, or any advice on where to get good information.

I am looking to move back to the UK in a few years, hopefully after I have a few more rented house. Does anyone see any problems with this plan/

Feel free to move this to a more appropriate forum, as it doesn't really fit in business or property exactly.

Thanks.

Generally speaking you will have to be a resident in UK to get a regular buy-to-let mortgage from a UK lender, but there are many less products now than in 'the good old days' -2007!

What is an expat mortgage? I would be interested to hear the details.

I would say your general plan is potentially a good one but obviously there are a few pitfalls of which you must be aware. Possibly the biggest problem you will face are void periods where you dont have any tenants. Will you have enough cash to tide you over?

Will the rent cover future renovations/repairs/maintenance? Do you have the capital if not?

Also as other posters have said - what effect is the recession going to have, where are interests rates going? or more exactly how high? fixed rate mortgage?

As always do the numbers and the research, if it all adds up and you are comfortable with it - bob's your uncle

[Richb2004v2]

I've not lived in the UK (my home country) for almost 5 years and not paid taxes there consistently for around 8 years. I bought a house in the Uk 18 months ago and let it out. I bought it with an expat buy-to-let mortgage which worked out fine for me. I am now hoping to do the same again, but I am wondering if I really need to get the same type of mortgage as they do have a higher interest rate. If I do could anyone recommend a place to go for a good one? I would welcome any advice on this situation or topic, or any advice on where to get good information.

I am looking to move back to the UK in a few years, hopefully after I have a few more rented house. Does anyone see any problems with this plan/

Feel free to move this to a more appropriate forum, as it doesn't really fit in business or property exactly.

Thanks.

For my first property I did not require an expat mortgage and got a normal mortgage for a UK high street bank. I then switched to Lloyds TSB in Singapore who readily lend for UK properties (as well as a few other countries). The rates were much lower than in the UK if you borrow in S$ plus at that time the exchange rate went in my favour.

Their main office for the region are based in Hong Kong. I would check them out and see what they can offer.

Were you living abroad and were you paying taxes at the time?

I was lead to believe that the expat mortgage was the most genuine option due to the fact that I don't pay tax.

I do however use my parents home as my address when needed and still have my salary paid into a UK high street bank.

My current house rents out at a little bit more than the mortgage and I have what I think is a long term tenant. I view this house and any others as long term investments and in effect as pension funds. Even if the value of my current house does not increase at all but is paid in full by someone else then my initial deposit will have increased by about 450%. Hopefully in 20 years the house will at least double in price so making more.

I plan on getting a 5 year fixed mortgage which I am guessing is a good option as interest rates have surely got to rise over the coming years.

I have been monitoring about 30 potential interesting buys for the past 8 months and have noticed that almost all the well priced houses that I liked the look of have sold over the past month.

[Remix4]

Were you living abroad and were you paying taxes at the time?

I was lead to believe that the expat mortgage was the most genuine option due to the fact that I don't pay tax.

I do however use my parents home as my address when needed and still have my salary paid into a UK high street bank.

My current house rents out at a little bit more than the mortgage and I have what I think is a long term tenant. I view this house and any others as long term investments and in effect as pension funds. Even if the value of my current house does not increase at all but is paid in full by someone else then my initial deposit will have increased by about 450%. Hopefully in 20 years the house will at least double in price so making more.

I plan on getting a 5 year fixed mortgage which I am guessing is a good option as interest rates have surely got to rise over the coming years.

I have been monitoring about 30 potential interesting buys for the past 8 months and have noticed that almost all the well priced houses that I liked the look of have sold over the past month.

Yes I was living abroad. When I bought my first property I was in Indonesia. Lloyds TSB (the branch in my UK home town) gave me a standard mortgage - although I had to pay 20% deposit. No restrictions on letting. All that I had to say was that it is my intention at some point to move back to the UK - there is no time limit.

I never needed to pay taxes since the rental income after deductions was below the limit although obviously you need to submit an annual tax return.

When I moved to Singapore I bought a second property using Lloyds TSB Singapore (a 30 year mortgage) with rates a couple of % below UK banks although must borrow in S$. I then also switched my first property to Lloyds Singapore shortly after. No restrictions on borrowing for UK property as long as you can meet the income requirements.