Remortgaging question from out-of-the-country landlord

Remortgaging question from out-of-the-country landlord

10:23 AM, 2nd October 2017, About 7 years ago 6

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My residential home, which I am currently letting on an AST whilst I am out of the country on a sabbatical, has an ordinary residential mortgage, the term of which comes to an end in a month or so.

Whilst trying to arrange a remortgage, I have been told that FCA regulations stipulate that regulated business activities, such as mortgages, can only be carried out by authorised personnel in the UK and if either party are outside the UK then the transaction cannot be permitted.

If that is so, then I must cut short my traveling and return to the UK just to sign a form. Is that absolutely necessary? Whether this has any bearing on the matter I have no idea but the LTV is 33%.

And when I return to the UK after my sabbatical, I shall take up residence once more in my home. Would I be correct in thinking, therefore, that I am not required to obtain a Buy-To-Let remortgage?

Many thanks

Simon


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Comments

Paul Kaye

11:23 AM, 2nd October 2017, About 7 years ago

Well as I understand things ,you cannot have a residential mortgage on a let out property.
My advice is to remortgage with a but to let mortgage,interest only vis a good broker.
You then should not have a need to return just to sign a form and should be able to have a solicitor or agent sign any forms and others sent to you.
I hope this helps a little.

Paul Kaye

11:25 AM, 2nd October 2017, About 7 years ago

my previous response read BTL not but ,read via not vis,

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

13:26 PM, 2nd October 2017, About 7 years ago

I suggest talking to your existing mortgage lender

Howard Reuben Cert CII (MP) CeRER

13:51 PM, 2nd October 2017, About 7 years ago

The way your Broker is employed / authorised determines whether they need you to be on UK mainland soil to process your mortgage requirements, or not.

For clarity, we have 2x FCA authorised mortgage Broker Firms, each authorised under a different financial services network. One network insists on the 'being on UK mainland soil' issue (which, by the way, does not include Embassies, military bases etc), and the other network has no such restriction.

As Paul says above though, irrespective of what the administration process is, if you don't have 'consent to let' from your existing lender, then you are probably breaching your mortgage conditions and this needs to be sorted asap.

So, we would suggest you work with a professional BTL Broker, who doesn't need you to visit the UK to sign documents, and who can deal with expats and international financing, and who has access to the widest range of lenders.

See my profile for contact details 🙂

Rob Crawford

14:42 PM, 2nd October 2017, About 7 years ago

It's worth noting also that obtaining a mortgage nowadays is not a simple "just sign" process. Your ID, property ownership, source of income, tax returns and expenses all has to be detailed and supported with documents. So even if your existing broker has the authority to re-mortgage on your behalf, you will still need to source these documents.

Lucie Wade

15:06 PM, 2nd October 2017, About 7 years ago

If you are planning on returning to the country at some point to live in it again, save on fees and make sure you get a consent to let on the property with your existing lender. A remortgage to buy to let whilst living abroad can be a straight forward process with the right lender and solicitors, but get this wrong and it is very time consuming. It will also be costly transferring from resi to BTL then back again - lender don't really like these changes and it makes them suspicious things are going on when they're really not. So in a nut shell, talk to your existing lender, ask for a consent to let and what new rates they can offer you and make sure you explain that you will be returning in the future to take up residence again. Hope that helps

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