Rise in UK buy-to-let enquiries and increase in expat mortgage value from Gulf

Skipton International has seen a large rise in enquiries for expat mortgages from Gulf States this year, along with a significant growth in loan values.

In the first nine months of the year, the value of buy-to-let mortgage enquiries from British expats based in Kuwait increased by 130% on the whole of 2015. The value of expat mortgage enquiries doubled from Oman, rose by 21% from Qatar, and by 37% from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Skipton International launched buy-to-let mortgages in 2014 as a response to the difficulties British expat customers faced obtaining a mortgage on UK investment properties. Since then, Skipton has lent over £100m to British expats around the world and completed over 500 mortgages.

Jim Coupe, Managing Director, Skipton International, said: “The number of enquiries from the Gulf region has increased over the past year, with the year to date value of enquiries significantly up on the whole of 2015.

“The Gulf region has been one of our most popular sources of enquiries since we launched the expat mortgages, and demand for our UK buy-to-let mortgages is growing amongst British expats based in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

Earlier this year, Skipton opened up their mortgages to self-employed applicants and also expanded their eligible country list, enabling even more British expats to access the mortgages.

Skipton International also offers a range of offshore savings accounts, with competitive interest rates, for UK expats in over 100 countries. The Guernsey-registered bank won the Moneyfacts Award for Best Offshore Account Provider 2016, a category it was also Commended and Highly Commended for in 2014 and 2015.

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For further information or interviews please contact Julia Hunt at Direct Input.

Telephone +44 (0)1534 735253 or email julia@directinput.je

Skipton International offers a range of offshore savings accounts and is one of the Channel Islands’ leading mortgage lenders.

In 2014 Skipton International launched a range of mortgages for British expats looking to purchase a Buy-to-let property in the UK. For more information on Skipton International please visit www.skiptoninternational.com

Skipton International was recently named Guernsey Business of the Year at the Awards for Achievement. The bank has been at least commended by Moneyfacts for the past six years, winning on three occasions while independent research from Feefo shows 95% of customers rate Skipton’s service as Good or Excellent. 

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