Nottingham Building Society has launched a mortgage for foreign nationals who work in the UK and want to own a home.
The mortgage, which will be available through brokers, aims to help skilled workers from abroad overcome some of the hurdles faced when applying for a home loan.
For example, it does not require borrowers to have spent any minimum length of time in the UK before applying, something no other UK mortgage provider can match, The Nottingham claimed.
Another stumbling block faced by foreign nationals is a lack of credit history – and this is one of the main reasons why applicants, particularly those who have been in the UK for less than a year, currently struggle to get a UK mortgage.
Nottingham Building Society has partnered with cross-border credit bureau, Nova Credit to create the mortgage. This means mortgage brokers can access historic credit files in a growing number of countries worldwide, including India, Philippines, Australia, US, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Kenya and Korea.
The product will primarily be available to borrowers entering the UK on a Skilled Worker or Health and Social Care Worker visa.
It comes at a time when brokers are seeing high demand from overseas borrowers. Indeed, criteria searches on broker platforms also strongly suggest that there is growing appetite for mortgage solutions to serve this segment of the market.
The Nottingham said, a significant proportion of employees in the healthcare and IT sectors were from abroad – nearly one in five NHS staff were not British nationals – and well over 325,000 work visas were granted last year. The Home Office anticipates this number will reach over half a million by 2028 / 2029.
In 2023 alone, there were over three million entry clearance visas granted, which represented an increase in work and study visas granted in 2023 (36%) when compared to 2019 (19%).
Alison Pallett, sales director at Nottingham Building Society, said: “This is a fantastic solution, one we know brokers have been crying out for. We hope it will empower more borrowers from overseas to realise their home-buying dream in the UK, particularly those new to the UK who struggle to demonstrate their credit history.
“It’s an exciting step forward in our transformation journey as we continually look for innovative ways to support borrowers who currently find it difficult to obtain a mortgage.”
Danny Belton, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “There are a growing number of foreign nationals looking to come to the UK, bringing critical skills and years of experience to the workplace. However, obtaining a property to live in has been a significant challenge for many.
“It’s great to see that Nottingham Building Society has taken a pragmatic approach to the problem by providing a leading solution that can help these customers.”
