UK Mortgages for Expats Living in Switzerland

Yes, and Swiss applications are among the stronger European cases we see. The British community is concentrated in Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Zug, across banking, pharmaceuticals, commodities and the international organisations.

Most High Street banks will not lend to non-UK residents, so the deals that work sit with specialist lenders and private banks reached through a broker.

Loan sizes from Switzerland tend to run larger than average, which quietly widens the options at the top end.

Yes, readily. The franc is regarded as one of the most stable currencies in the world and sits near the top of most lenders' accepted lists.

Foreign currency income is still discounted in affordability calculations, commonly leaving 75% to 90% counted, though the franc usually attracts the more generous end of that range.

Switzerland is not in the eurozone, so this is a franc question rather than a euro one. If part of your package is paid in euros or dollars, mention it, as multi-currency income narrows the lender list without closing it.

Some of it, and the amount varies considerably by lender, which matters more in Switzerland than in most of Europe. Lenders typically average a cash bonus over two or three years and count a proportion of it, treating contractual elements more generously than discretionary ones.

Share awards and deferred compensation are harder. Vested awards that have reached your account are assessed much like bonus; unvested awards are excluded entirely by some lenders and partially counted by others where the schedule is documented.

Bring the last three years of bonus letters and any plan documents to the first conversation. On a bonus-led package the right lender is worth considerably more than the right rate.

Because Swiss residential property is expensive and, for many foreign residents, restricted, so a great deal of expat capital that would otherwise go into a local purchase goes back to the UK instead.

Add the familiar reasons, family, children at UK universities and an eventual return, and the pattern is well established.

A future home and a pure investment are financed differently, so tell us which yours is at the start.

Residential lending reaches 90% loan-to-value, so deposits start from around 10% of the purchase price. Buy-to-let runs to 80%, so plan on at least 20%, and more where the rental figures are tight. At the loan sizes Swiss clients tend to run, a larger deposit noticeably sharpens pricing.

Buy-to-let is assessed mainly on the property's expected rent, which lenders typically want covering the payment by at least 125% and often 145% under their stress tests.

If the deposit comes from a bonus, keep the award letter; it answers your solicitor's source-of-funds question in one document.

Yes to the first and no to the second. A remortgage means a new deal at the end of your rate, or equity released from a property you already own.

Switzerland is one hour ahead of the UK, so calls need no planning, and everything from the free initial consultation to completion runs remotely.

If your fixed rate ends within six months, start now.