£4m Foreign National Mortgage Structured Around International Wealth and Offshore Income

Our clients, a married couple based in Dubai, owned property in several countries and were buying a £6m central London home for the summer months.

The husband had built a successful international IT business operating through offshore structures, with wealth recently accumulated.

For clients at this level of wealth, purchasing outright is rarely the right approach. The clients wanted to borrow against the property as part of their inheritance tax planning strategy, preserving liquidity for lifestyle and continued investment while supporting a long-term inheritance tax position held outside the UK.

The clients held no UK right to reside and their UK presence was limited to a number of weeks each year. Income was drawn through offshore corporate structures and trust arrangements, and the wider asset and ownership picture fell outside UK reporting frameworks.

A profile of this nature sits outside mainstream foreign national mortgage lending. The case required a private bank with the appetite to underwrite international wealth, offshore income and non-resident borrowing as a single coherent picture.

Drew Somerston, Private Client Director, built the case around the clients’ full international position. Offshore corporate holdings, trust arrangements and the structure of the international income were set out with the precision private banks require.

The case was placed with a private bank whose appetite for international wealth of this profile was matched by the underwriting flexibility required to deliver.

The case extended beyond the lending itself. At engagement, Drew introduced the clients to a trusted buying agent and to a solicitor experienced in international purchase structures, and coordinated the FX firm that brought the funds across to complete the purchase.

The lending, the legal work, the currency transfer and the property acquisition moved as a single coordinated process under Drew’s direction.

Our clients secured a £4m interest only tracker mortgage with a private bank at 75% LTV, funding the entire borrowing requirement. The lender underwrote against their offshore income and substantial liquid assets, on terms that reflected the strength of the wider wealth picture.

The clients completed on the central London property with the wider inheritance tax strategy intact and capital free to remain at work.

This is the work Drew is known for: cases where wealth is international, structures are offshore, and the lending sits at the centre of a transaction spanning multiple jurisdictions and professional disciplines. Drew leads the transaction from first conversation through to completion.