Refinance of £2.5 Million Property for International Client

• Client: International self-employed borrower living overseas
• Property: Prime Central London residential property valued at approximately £2.5 million
• Challenge: Existing first and second charge borrowing needed to be consolidated, with the client’s overseas residency and non-standard income documentation adding complexity
• Finance: £1.185 million consolidated mortgage on a 36-month term

Refinancing a UK property can become more complicated when a borrower is resident overseas and has a self-employed income structure that does not fit conventional lender requirements. Enness was approached by an international client looking to refinance a Prime Central London residential property valued at approximately £2.5 million.

The property was subject to both first and second charge mortgages, with total existing borrowing of approximately £1.185 million. As second charge finance can carry higher costs than a conventional first charge mortgage, the client wanted to consolidate the existing borrowing into a single facility.

The proposed refinance was broadly like-for-like, resulting in a relatively low LTV of less than 50%. However, the client’s international circumstances created additional challenges despite the relatively conservative level of borrowing.

The client was resident overseas and self-employed, meaning the application did not fit the standard profile used by many mainstream lenders. In particular, the client did not have conventional company accounts available in the format typically requested when assessing self-employed income.

Enness referred the application to its London team, who identified a lender experienced in working with international borrowers and more complex income structures. Rather than requiring a standard set of accounts, the lender was prepared to consider alternative evidence of income.

The application was supported by an accountant’s letter and bank statements demonstrating the client’s income and wider financial position. This allowed the lender to assess the application based on a broader range of evidence rather than relying solely on conventional accounts.

The resulting facility consolidated the existing first and second charge borrowing into a single mortgage of £1.185 million. The loan was arranged at a rate of 3% above one-month LIBOR at the time, over a 36-month term.

Consolidating the existing borrowing provided a simpler financing structure against the £2.5 million property and removed the need to maintain separate first and second charge facilities. The relatively low LTV also provided a strong level of property security for the lender.

The case demonstrates how specialist mortgage expertise can be valuable for international and self-employed borrowers whose circumstances do not fit conventional lending criteria. Where standard income documentation is unavailable, alternative evidence may sometimes be considered, subject to individual lender requirements.

Read the UK version of this case study.