"No Credit" Mortgages & Expat Mortgages

Has anyone had success getting a UK mortgage right away with no UK credit history?

Any success stories with Residential or Buy-to-Let Expat Mortgages?

DH and I easily meet DTI, income, and length of employment requirements. It's just that we've been in the US for 12 years, so extensive US credit history and none at all in the UK by now.

Thanks!

Hi,

Yes, you can get a mortgage with no or little credit history. It's harder to do nowadays generally speaking than in recent years past but possible. In short, once you put a big enough downpayment/deposit, the mortgage will come through 'relatively' easily. Some relatives of mine did so a few weeks after arriving here from India but that was back around 2003'ish when the then government was throwing money around like confetti! I seem to recall them putting down 35% perhaps 40, and within a few weeks I was helping them shortlist local properties and a short while after that, helping them move in! Nowadays, given the economic issues since 2008 and now the whole Brexit Mess, I think to have that 'ease' to get a mortgage with no credit history, I 'think' the figure is 45%-50% - I've not looked into it for a fair while now, so I could be wrong.

In the last couple years or so, lending criteria has tightened significantly for mortgage lending and for those with a fantastically squeaky clean credit history, they were being refused mortgages even with a 10-15% deposit. That's eased a little bit recently, but the general house prices have risen making it even harder for many to get on the property ladder. I know things are little different in Scotland along with prices and lending criteria so you may need to look into that a bit more. One of my Sis in Law's cousins is now selling up and moving out of Scotland in an effort to not lose too much in a selling price for the apartment he purchased a few years ago in Aberdeen, so I think criteria might relax a little soon. If you can put down that bigger deposit, you should be able to progress.

The Buy to Let market is being targeted quite aggressively by the government in relation to Tax given the rampant rises in rents over the last few years all over the country. Again, situation may be different in Scotland, but do check. I think you'd face a little more stringent checking if you go for a buy to let and are considered expats returning back to the UK but now without a credit history.

Guess alot of your plans depend on what salary levels in the jobs you get offers for!

Cheers, DtM!! West London & Slough UK!

Personally I would contact a mortgage broker.  Even with a large deposit I think it would be difficult to get something in your first year.  But I do not have experience with an expat mortgage, so may be talking out of my ass.

Our situation didn't happen right away really, but still much faster than we had expected. We opted for a New Build, though, and took advantage of Help to Buy, so that might've been the difference for us...

In any case, the mortgage broker was very helpful in outlining what our options were and who was likely to approve us in our situation. At time, I'd been in the UK for 7 months and had only been working for 3 months. My UK spouse had been working for 8 months after having returned to the UK after living in the US. He had maintained his UK credit card (and therefore the history), whereas I had tranferred my AmEx US to an AmEx UK card and started accruing a history here for 3 months... No one, including us and our parents, thought we'd get approved!

Not sure if this is helpful, but thought I'd share our weird/fast mortgage experience.

John Charcoal (sp?) is a mortgage broker who was willing to offer us a mortgage when my visa was about to expire.  They might be flexible as well for you. 

Do your comparisons though, they weren't cheap.