Expat Buy-to-Let

Our Expat products are available to first time and existing landlords residing abroad, who wish to purchase or re-mortgage a Buy-To-Let property in the UK, either in their personal name or via a UK-registered Limited Company.

Who is this product suitable for?

• First Time Buyers
• First Time Landlords
• Existing landlords looking to purchase a new property or remortgage an existing property
• Landlords operating via a Limited Company
• Portfolio Landlords

Loan, Fee & Product Details

• Interest only or repayment
• Maximum loan size £3,000,000. Loans over this are priced on a bespoke basis and have restricted LTVs
• For portfolio landlords the maximum LTV INCLUDING fees is 75%
• Maximum Portfolio with Saffron of £3m (no external exposure limit)

Applicant Criteria

• The applicant must be a British Passport holder or have permanent rights to remain
• Regulated buy to let applications are accepted for individual landlords if the applicant has Sterling income. 
• All documentation* not in English will need to be translated by a qualified translator - e.g Bank statements, payslips and proof of address documents.
• No country restrictions – subject to list of sanctioned countries. We will condition the offer for nomination of a UK solicitor with a minimum of 2 partners who will act for the applicant, on whom the society can serve notice in the event of default. Please note this is a requirement of an offer and we will not proceed to completion without this.

* Please see our criteria for Expat document requirements

Affordability and Income Criteria

Individual Landlords:

• 5 Year Fixed Rate - 140% of pay rate
• 2 Year Fixed Rate and Variable rates: Rental cover 140% of either pay rate +2% or 5.5% whichever is higher
• Rental Cover on debt for debt re-mortgage cases 125% of pay rate
• Regulated buy to let mortgages are based on affordability. We will not include rental received on this property towards the affordability calculation.

Limited Company landlords: 

• 5 Year Fixed Rate - 125% of pay rate
• 2 Year Fixed Rate and Variable rates: Rental cover 125% of either pay rate +2% or 5.5% whichever is higher

• No minimum income for experienced landlords (minimum of 12 months experience)
• If the borrowers are inexperienced landlords, at least one applicant must meet the minimum income requirement of £25,000

Property Requirements

• Property must be let on an AST
• Rental assessment is based on occupation by one family on an unfurnished let
• Minimum energy performance rating of E on an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
• HMO applications are not currently accepted from Expat landlords.

Additional Details for Limited Company Landlords

• Personal Guarantees for total borrowing (inclusive of fees) taken from all Directors for applications exceeding 55% LTV
• All Shareholders in the Company must be named as Directors
• Maximum of 4 Directors – individual credit checks will be undertaken
• Any proposed changes to Directors during life of mortgage must be subject to our approval
• Details of all properties each Director has an ownership in (either in own name or a business name) must be provided
• Limited Companies registered in the UK only
• No time limit as to how long registered i.e. new SPV’s allowed
• Company must be set up with the principal activity of buying and holding residential investment property and used for that purpose only in line with the appropriate SIC Code
• Certificate of Incorporation to be provided
• Latest set of accounts to be provided (where the company has been set up for more than 18 months)
• Regulated or Consumer buy to let not accepted