Updates to our Foreign National lending policy

6th April 2021

Following the introduction of the EU Settlement Scheme, customers who are EU/EEA/Swiss citizens (excluding Republic of Ireland) will need to evidence their permanent right to reside in the UK or their Settled/Pre-Settled status.

EU Nationals with permanent rights to reside or Settled/Pre-Settled status

To validate the Settled/Pre-Settled status, applicants will need to provide their Share Code when submitting an application. Once we’ve validated the code, we will consider their application in the same way we do for British and Irish Nationals and those with indefinite leave to remain.

Applications submitted after 8pm on Monday 5 April will be assessed using our new policy. Customers already in the pipeline will not be affected by this change

Foreign Nationals without permanent rights to reside or Settled/Pre-Settled status

From Tuesday 6 April, we will also update our Foreign National lending policy to reflect the new UK Visa requirements that were introduced in December 2020.

Applicants will be required to evidence a Visa with at least 12 months remaining until expiry at the point of application, from one of the following two categories:

• Investor, Business Development and Talent Visas (previously Tier 1); or
• Long-term work Visa (previously Tier 2)

As per existing criteria, applicants must have:

• Lived in the UK for a two year uninterrupted period with a clear credit footprint
• A permanent employed position
• Gross annual income earnings of £75k or more
• Max LTV of 75%

Whilst the current tier system is being phased out, we will continue to accept applications with a valid Tier 1 or Tier 2 Visa providing the applicant meets our Foreign National policy.

We want to help

You can find full details of our current lending policy on our lending criteria page. If you have any questions, just get in touch with your dedicated Business Development Manager, who’ll do everything they can to help.