The French bank said it hoped to make the most of the British growing trend for buying a place in the sun and increase its presence on the market with its London branch.
Credit Foncier plans to develop its introducer networks and broker relationships to make its range of property loans more widely available in the UK.
Although many UK intermediaries already use Credit Foncier services based in France, their new branch should make applications easier for brokers and cut down on the costs involved in couriering documents.
Tailor made finance solutions are available from Credit Foncier for every type of non-resident from a holiday home or rental investment to buying off plan. Conventional capital repayment loans are also available combined with an interest only solution.
In addition Credit Foncier has a fund transfer service which is designed to protect non-residents whose income is not in euros, by providing renewable exchange rate cover.
Simon Conn, managing director at Conti Financial Services Ltd, said: “Having more lenders to choose from within the UK will help customers become more aware that they should shop around both foreign and British banks when buying a home abroad.
“Each individual has different circumstances, sometimes international banks don’t offer the best deals sometimes they do. You have to put it into the context of the whole market. Allot of lenders came into the overseas market with great ideals, but without having the right underwriting criteria, which can be difficult if you do not understand the market of that particular country. The odd case can be problematic and in these scenarios foreign banks have the advantage of understanding the local market. For any broker just doing the odd case I would advice them to go to a specialist broker or packager.”
