The opportunity may already be in your book, it just needs to be recognised
The headlines say landlords are retreating, but dig past the surface and a different story emerges. There are retirees in Spain, professionals in Dubai, BNO holders in Hong Kong — and many still have a property back home in the UK.
As Family Building Society’s Paul Roberts, senior account director, and Stuart Heavens, BDM, can attest, expat buy-to-let is actually thriving. With only a modest number of lenders willing to play in the space, brokers who know the market are sitting on a significant edge.
“We're very much open to business for buy-to-let in general but expat in particular,” Roberts says. “As relative experts, we're pushing brokers to utilise the tools out there to expand their knowledge and ultimately help them support these customers.”
Who's borrowing — and why
Demand is being driven by three distinct expat borrower groups: customers moving abroad who want to rent out their UK home instead of sell; those who need to remortgage while away; and professional landlords who have built up a property portfolio. As Roberts explains, “it's a good mix of customers.”
Geographically, the spread is similarly broad. Europe remains popular despite the complications Brexit introduced for some high street lenders. The Gulf states are a consistent source of business, with professionals heading to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar driving steady demand even amid the recent conflict. Hong Kong and Singapore represent another area of focus, with Family Building Society's willingness to consider BNO passport holders widening the gates even further.
Canada and the US are increasingly part of the picture. Typically, these borrowers aren’t following a deliberate investment strategy. Instead, professionals head across the Atlantic for work while renting out their UK home. As their confidence as landlords grows, along with their capital, they begin to expand their portfolios.
For brokers, there's a critical takeaway embedded in this. Most of these clients weren't expats when a broker first met them but moved overseas sometime after that first connection. The opportunity, in other words, may already be sitting in a brokers' existing book of business: it just needs to be recognised.
Whether they fit into the ‘accidental landlord’ category, are experienced holders of multi-property portfolios, or land somewhere in between, expats need the right support.
“Now, especially with the Renters' Rights Act, it's a critical time to seek advice,” Heavens says. “Even if they're your old-fashioned dinner party landlord, they need to be aware of how the rules are changing.”
A market in transition – why advice matters more than ever
Professional landlords are the cohort that's seen the most change over the last 12 months. Increasingly, these borrowers are moving their portfolios into UK limited company structures. It's one of the most significant product shifts the market has seen in recent years — and one that Family Building Society has moved to accommodate.
"We listened to our broker community in terms of what was required," Roberts says, and Heavens confirms that outside of consumer remortgages, limited company enquiries now dominate the pipeline.
It's a trend both expect to continue. The direction of travel in the broader buy-to-let market toward limited company structures is playing out just as clearly in the expat space. For brokers who don't regularly handle expat cases, however, the changing dynamics and extra considerations can feel overwhelming. But once you wade in and educate yourself — or hitch your wagon to packagers who are specialists in the area — intimidation fades.
Roberts points out that semi-exclusive products and financial incentives for clients often emerge from these mutually beneficial relationships with packaging firms, and Heavens agrees.
“Lean on a firm that does multiple buy-to-lets on a regular basis for expats,” Heavens advises. “Play to your strengths and utilise someone else’s expertise to complement your own business.”
Roberts also notes that while the mechanics matter, so does the conversation. His overall advice? Packaging, packaging, packaging… but getting the whole story from the client is helpful alongside it. Find out what the client wants from the buy-to-let. How long do they plan to rent it out and when they plan to return to the UK are also key questions as that information helps place them with the right lender.
All that said, there is undoubtedly an innate complexity with expat lending. The good news is, most lenders have worked to reduce it, and Family Building Society is no exception. In fact, it often leads the way.
“We're very experienced with expat cases; we make it as straightforward as possible,” Heavens says, adding that the highest hurdle is typically identifying the client to verify who and where they are.
Wherever they can, Family Building Society smooths friction. For instance, the lender accepts family or friends as a UK correspondence address as opposed to only a solicitor, which is a flexibility not all lenders offer. On the income side, the barrier is lower than many brokers might expect and something the Family Building Society is known for. Assessment is primarily driven by the property's rental yield rather than the borrower's personal income on buy-to-let, including expat.
“Not having to provide payslips or P60s — things that may need to be translated — makes a huge difference in terms of the processing time of a case,” Roberts adds.
Looking beyond UK credit scoring, a 12-month UK mortgage track record is the starting point but not a hard stop. Does the customer have a historical mortgage record, or one within the country they now reside in? Some cases simply don't fit between the tram lines — Family Building Society is built to catch those off-road cases, allowing brokers to access more “yes” for their customers as opposed to facing blanket declines.
“With us, you're not just tapping it all into a machine and getting that machine’s answer at the end of it,” Roberts says. “We can look at a case and go, do you know what? Absolutely fine. We're happy with the loan to value, the property, the customer.”
Playing the long game
Looking ahead, the expat buy-to-let may shift in tandem with future legislative changes, taxes, and the swing of the geopolitical environment at large, but the consensus is it will not slow.
“You may see a reduction in smaller landlords in the coming years, but they're likely to be replaced by bigger, more experienced landlords who see that as an opportunity,” Roberts predicts, adding that he doesn't see the limited company trend changing trajectory either.
The thread running through all of it is the same as it’s always been: knowledge is the differentiator. Both Roberts and Heavens urge brokers to stay curious. Industry events, lender presentations, conversations with key account or business development managers — there’s never a bad time to get additional information.
“The market is constantly changing and evolving, be it product, criteria, or the service levels each lender offers,” Roberts says. “Advice is key. It’s the most important bit.”
This article was created in partnership with Family Building Society.
