Search for a non resident mortgage UK lenders will actually offer you, and most of what comes back leads with a rate. The rate is the last thing a lender settles. Before it come three questions: which country you live in, what currency your income is paid in, and whether the flat will be let or lived in.
The calculator above does the arithmetic. This section answers the questions buyers abroad ask around it.
Large UK banks with an international desk. A few lend to people living abroad, usually only to residents of the countries on a list they publish. One that also lends on a home you will live in includes the UAE on its list and leaves Türkiye off it.
Specialist buy-to-let lenders. The widest door for a buyer abroad: more lenders offer non-residents a buy-to-let than a mortgage to live in, and they decide mainly on the rent. At least one accepts residents of both the UAE and Türkiye, with additional checks for the latter.
Private banks. They lend to clients of substantial means, usually as part of a wider relationship with the bank, and agree terms case by case rather than from a published product list.
Our London team starts your case from where you live and what the flat is for, and the mortgage is arranged through an FCA-regulated broker.
There is no single non-resident rate to look up: each lender prices by the deposit, the length of the fix and the product fee. The calculator above opens on 5.9%: an example to work with, not an offer from any lender.
A lower rate often comes with a larger product fee, and if that fee is added to the loan it bears interest for the whole term. A fix of five years or more also changes the rent test: the 5.5% floor no longer applies, which matters whenever fixed rates sit below it.
When the fixed period ends
Many UK mortgages are sold as a fixed deal for a set number of years. When the deal ends, the loan moves to the lender's standard variable rate, which is often higher, unless you switch to a new deal or remortgage. Repaying during the fixed period usually brings an early repayment charge, worked out as a percentage of what you still owe. Compare offers on their cost over the fixed period, fees included.
On a buy-to-let the lender judges the flat as much as it judges you. It wants the monthly rent to reach at least 125% of the interest at the test rate, and some lenders for buyers abroad ask for 130%. Your income still has to clear a minimum, but it counts for far less than the rent.
That has a practical consequence in London. Where prices are high against rents, the rent test can cap the loan below 75%, and the difference has to come from a larger deposit. Put the expected rent into the calculator before you settle on a flat, not after the valuation.
One condition is absolute: neither you nor your family can live in a flat bought this way. Homes for sale in London and property across the UK give you real flats to test the rent against.
Being non-UK tax resident for income tax does not settle your stamp duty. HMRC's guidance says your status under the Statutory Residence Test is not relevant to the stamp duty surcharge. The only test is whether you were present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before buying. Fall short and 2% is added to every band; if you will also keep a home anywhere worth £40,000 or more, a further 5% is added.
Lenders ask a third question, where you live and where your income is paid, and for the same person the answers can differ in a year of moving. Count your days before you exchange. This is general information: the UK buying guide sets out the full purchase costs, and a tax adviser should confirm your own position.
Many buyers abroad weigh both cities, and one number separates them. In London, most lenders we checked go up to 75% of the price for a buyer abroad; in Dubai, our calculator asks a non-resident for at least 40% down. Our Dubai mortgage page sets out the UAE side with its own calculator, and the UAE buying guide covers the purchase there.
