British expats have to look longer and harder to find affordable deals for UK house buying. Problems encountered by expats include having to find much larger deposits than UK-based customers, and higher interest rates and arrangement fees. These come on top of the usual hassles of finding and conveyancing a property purchase from a distance....

Buying UK property as a British expat used to be tricky – yet, thanks to mortgage products specifically created for this purpose, and new applications that calculate how much you can borrow, and that even give you an agreement in principle online, securing an investment property in the UK is easier than ever before. Since...

Skipton International has launched an upgraded online calculator, giving expat mortgage customers a quick guide to loan options. The calculator uses information such as property value and rental income to show customers the maximum amount they would be able to borrow, along with estimated monthly repayment costs, based on Skipton’s mortgage offerings for the requested...

The small Mediterranean island of Malta is proving attractive to property buyers and features tax advantages to those who come to live, invest in a home and retire. Having registered the highest GDP growth rate in Europe in 2015 and the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the EU, Malta is making a name for itself...

Featuring high on the list of Britons’ favourite retirement destinations, Italy has a highly varied property market for you to choose from in mountains, fertile valleys and seafronts. It is best to begin your home search in Italy as soon as possible. Although good housing is available, it may take some time to find the...

There are numerous reasons why people consider buying property in Switzerland. It is arguably the world’s ultimate ‘safe haven’ offering political, legal and economic stability as well as the stable Swiss franc, a traditional store of value.  By Alpine Property Search & Swiss Alps Properties Add in Switzerland’s high quality of life, low crime rates,...

With ongoing talks in Geneva between Greece and Turkey about the divided island of Cyprus, how should property investors view this otherwise idyllic Mediterranean location? The BBC reports that talks to resolve the disputed territory on Cyprus between the heads of the Greek and Turkish governments are ongoing. But at the time of writing no...

Rules on UK lending introduced by the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority limit the amount expat buy-to-let property investors and landlords can borrow on new mortgages. The new rules are designed to slow the demand for UK buy-to-let investment by demanding buyers raise larger deposits. Lenders will have to test affordability using notional interest rates of...

A majority of UK expat buy-to-let mortgages are concentrated in greater London and the South East, according to new figures. Figures from lender Skipton International show up to 40% of expat mortgage customers are investing in buy-to-let property in Greater London, with another 25% in the South East of England. Just 10% of British expats...

With the pound trading at an historic low against the world’s major currencies, now may be a good time for British expats to consider investing in property back home, according to property investment firm Benoit Properties International. With a significant shortage of supply in the UK property market, prices and rents are rising steadily, say...

As a collection of seven separate emirates, there are some differences between emirates in the rules and procedures for buying property in the UAE. Here we are focussing on Dubai, where buyers from India, the UK and Pakistan make up the three largest overseas contingents. The market is certainly buoyant. Transaction reports from the Dubai...

UK buyers are the most important group of non-resident investors in France, accounting for 34 per cent of all transactions in 2015, up 44 per cent on 2014. The figures come from a survey by the Notaires de France, BNP and Rightmove, the UK property portal. The combined effects of sterling strength and euro weakness...