Rise in UK buy-to-let enquiries from British expats in Europe

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

In the first nine months of the year, the number of enquiries for buy-to-let mortgages from British expats based in Spain is more than double the number across the whole of 2015, from Germany by more than half, from France and Switzerland both higher than the whole of 2015.

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 certain European countries has increased substantially over the past year, while the year to date value of loans is significantly up on 2015.”

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.

Jim said: “British expats choose to invest in UK property for many reasons. For our clients, long term investment potential is a very significant factor.”

In a survey by Skipton International earlier this year, 35% of expats surveyed cited long term investment as their main reason for investing in UK buy-to-let. Other reasons included pension planning (19%), a desire to remain invested in UK property (12%), rental income, and difficulties or reluctance to buy in their country of residence (both 10%).

The survey also found that 87% of overseas buy-to-let investors expect their rental income to increase or stay the same for the next 12 months, while 70% of investors expect the value of their property to increase over the same period.

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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