"By offering a solution that requires no minimum time of residency in the UK, no UK credit history or no minimum income, we hope to help as many people as possible onto the UK property ladder. "
- Alison Pallett, sales director at Nottingham Building Society
Nottingham Building Society has announced a reduction of up to 11 basis points on its range of mortgage products for skilled foreign nationals and UK expats returning to the country. It is also reducing the stress rates used for affordability testing these borrowers in line with the lower interest rate environment.
The mutual offers a variety of two and five-year mortgage products for foreign nationals and returning expats, which include flexible criteria of up to 90% LTV, and both fee and no-fee options.
As well as the rate reduction, the Society is also reducing the maximum product fee across this range from £1,999 to £1,499, with no increase in rates on these products.
The Society says a lack of credit history is one of the main reasons why foreign nationals, particularly those who have been in the UK for less than a year, struggle to get a mortgage. When it launched its foreign nationals and returning expats proposition in May 2024, the Nottingham addressed this issue by partnering with cross-border credit bureau, Nova Credit, to provide mortgage brokers access to historic credit files in a growing number of countries worldwide.
Since then, Nottingham has received applications from people based in more than 40 countries, with India and Nigeria the most common.
Almost 40% of these applicants work in the healthcare sector, with two-thirds having spent less than three years in the UK. The Nottingham is also seeing a broad regional split of applications, with 60% coming from outside London and the South East.
Recently, the Society extended the range to cover both global talent and pre-settlement visas, alongside skilled worker and health and care visas.
Alison Pallett, sales director at Nottingham Building Society, said: "We are committed to supporting foreign nationals and returning expats in their journey to homeownership in the UK. The latest rate reductions and product enhancements reflect our ongoing efforts to provide accessible, competitive mortgage options that meet the diverse needs of our customers.
"Broker feedback is essential as we continue to evolve our product range to meet the needs of our customers. By offering a solution that requires no minimum time of residency in the UK, no UK credit history or no minimum income, we hope to help as many people as possible onto the UK property ladder. That’s the role we believe a modern mutual should fulfil.”
