401(k) and first time home purchase

Hi,

I have just returned to the UK after 4 years of living and working in California to live permanently in London. I contributed about $20k to a 401(k) account and am wondering about what to do with the money, particularly as I am keen to buy a house in the UK.

Part of the $20k was committed post tax as a Roth 401(k) and part was standard 401(k) - pre tax.

I would like to know the following:

1. Would I be able to commute the 401(k) to a UK retirement plan?
2. Would I be able to borrow against the 401(k) for a UK first time purchase?
3. Is it worth withdrawing the 401(k) and paying taxes and penalties? This is quite a complex question and probably involves a lot of variables so:
4. Can you recommend a tax or financial adviser to help with answering 3 above?

I am leaning toward removing the money and paying the appropriate penalties just to simplify my future and not have to have the headache of managing the investment and worrying about what exchange rates will do in 40 years time when I retire.

I also think the capital would be well spent on a property. Unlike many parts of the US, the UK housing market has been relatively more buoyant and in many ways (rightly or wrongly) 'getting on the property ladder' is considered an important way of saving for retirement. I think this is partly recognized in the US as the IRS (apparently) permits borrowing against the value of the 401(k) in order to put down a deposit on a first time home purchase. I imagine that adding an additional GBP10k will reduce my mortgage interest rate by 0.5% which could be a considerable sum over a typical 25 year mortgage.

Hoping you can help!

Rich