Key Criteria

Expats and Overseas Residents remortgaging or purchasing Buy-To-Let properties in England, Wales or the Scottish mainland.

The application can be emailed or couriered to our office. Please note, as the application is for non-UK residents the documentation requirements may be more extensive than for similar applications for UK residents to other banks. Please see Packaging Guidelines for full information.

• Client
  1. Each applicant must be a passport holder and have their citizenship noted in the nationality section of their passport for a country not listed in Skipton International's Restricted Country List. 
  2. Each applicant must remain resident overseas and not planning to move to the UK in the near future or reside in the property in the future.
  3. The client cannot be living, working or a national in a country on our Restricted List. Please note Skipton lends to Australians living outside of Australia.
  4. The client is not a Chinese national residing in mainland China. This does not apply to residents of Hong Kong, Chinese nationals living outside mainland China or Expatriates working in mainland China.
  5. The client needs to have a UK bank or building society account from which direct debits can be arranged to pay their mortgage.  This must be opened prior to application.  If they are not using a “major UK Bank” or an easily recognisable Bank or Building Society, they will need to provide an email confirmation from the Bank in question. They must confirm they can allow Direct Debits to be claimed from the account.
  6. One month bank statement. This must show their salary / pension being credited and mortgages/ rent being debited (if applicable). The statements must detail account holder’s name(s), account number, narrative, debits, credits and running balances. See packaging guidelines for a full list of required documents.
  7. The client can never have been declared bankrupt, insolvent or equivalent and no action should be pending. They should never have entered into any arrangement with creditors or party to a voluntary arrangement. Should never had a property repossessed by a lender or entered into an arrangement for mortgage arrears. They should also not have an unsatisfied court order or have any such actions pending.  If a court order has been satisfied, we will look at this on a case by case basis.
• Portfolio Landlord

  Once an applicant owns four or more mortgaged Buy-To-Let properties, they are classified as a "Portfolio Landlord".  At this point, Skipton International applies enhanced affordability checks.

  If your client is a Portfolio Landlord as defined above, Skipton requires any properties within the portfolio, that are mortgaged via other lenders, to meet Skipton International's BTL affordability criteria.  This means that rental income must provide a minimum of 125% interest cover, when interest is calculated on total borrowings at a rate of 6.49%.  This calculation is applied to all BTL properties mortgages outside Skipton International on a collective basis.  In the event of a rental shortfall the application will be declined.  In addition:

  • Skipton International can offer a maximum of 5 BTL properties to any one client.
  • Skipton International is unable to accept applications from clients who have more than 5 BTL properties.
  • Skipton International will allow a maximum of 3 BTL properties, within the whole portfolio, to be held within any 1 post code district, e.g. SW1.  In the event of more being held, the application will be declined.

  The above is not exhaustive just a guide.

• Income

  Clients can be employed, self employed or pensioners.  Income must be from one source only. Earned income with the exception of pension income cannot be subject to UK income tax.

  i)  Is your sole basic earned income (not including commission, overtime or bonuses) or pension income over £40,000 or the equivalent of £50,000 p.a. if paid in local currency?

  ii) For a joint application where neither party is earning £50,000 p.a sterling equivalent, is the combined basic earnings of both parties £80,000 p.a sterling equivalent?

  Certain guaranteed allowances may contribute towards this figure. Any probationary period must be passed prior to applying. Earned income with the exception of pension income cannot be subject to UK income tax.

  iii) If self-employed, can you provide evidence that either party's annual income is in excess of £60,000 p.a. sterling/ or equivalent of £75,000 p.a. if earned in local currency. Earned income with the exception of pension income cannot be subject to UK income tax.

  iv) Self employed applicants can appoint a local fully qualified accountant working in an accountancy firm with a minimum of two partners. The firm and accountant must be:
  - Clearly identifiable
  - Suitably qualified (local equivalent of ACA, FCA, ACCA, FCCA, IPFA or ICAS)

  OR

  Alternatively, self employed applicants can provide the last years final income tax assessment (where written in English). Please provide a completed Accountants Certificate.

   v) If pensioners, a minimum income of £40,000 per annum or the equivalent of £50,000 per annum if paid in local currency.  This can be subject to UK income tax if the clients have retired abroad and can be from more than one pension provider.

• Mortgage

  1) We support mortgages on properties in England, Wales, Scottish mainland and the Channel Islands. Please note Skipton International does not lend on properties located in Northern Ireland, Isle of Man or the islands of Scotland

  2) Minimum mortgage of £100,000 and maximum exposure per client, together with connected persons, of £5m.

  3) The maximum age of applicants at the start of the mortgage is 69 and maximum age at expiry of mortgage is 84. 

  4) The maximum mortgage term is 35 years subject to point 3.

• Property

  1) The property must be for Buy-To-Let purposes and neither the borrower nor their family can live in the property during the original 3 or 5 year Tracker or Fixed rate product period.

  2) The property cannot be on our unacceptable properties list.

  3) Consumer buy to lets are acceptable.

  4) The property must be let on a suitable Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement (or a Private Residential Tenancy agreement if in Scotland) and not be used as a holiday let or HMO.  Please refer to our property letting requirements documents for further information.

  Property Letting Requirements (England and Wales)
  Property Letting Requirements (Scotland)

  5) The property needs to have been owned by the existing owner for a minimum of 6 months (this applies to purchase/remortgage/equity release or further borrowing). Inherited property is not subject to this 6 months as long as Probate is complete and a letter from the solicitor dealing with the estate confirms that the customer has inherited the property.

  Earned income with the exception of pension income cannot be subject to UK income tax