Buying from overseas

Our Property Sourcing service works for overseas buyers exactly as it does for local ones, from 1.2% of the purchase price with a £1,500 minimum, staged. Video viewings replace accompanied ones, every candidate comes with sold price and achieved rent evidence, and for a rental purchase we state the licensing position under the council that actually governs the address before you offer, because a licence changes the arithmetic and most sellers' particulars never mention it.

A buyer who is not UK resident for SDLT purposes pays a 2% non-resident surcharge on top of the ordinary rates, and a buyer who already owns another dwelling anywhere in the world usually pays the additional dwellings surcharge as well, 5%. The two stack. On a £200,000 rental purchase they are the difference between a viable yield and a disappointing one, so we put the full SDLT figure in front of you before you offer, and Trent Law Solicitors confirms it in the conveyancing. The residence test for SDLT is its own test, counting days in the year around completion, and partial refunds exist if you later satisfy it; Trent Law advises on your actual position rather than a website's summary.

UK buy to let mortgages for non-residents exist, through a narrower set of lenders with their own expectations on deposits and evidence of income. Trent Finance Limited arranges them through its network's panel, and its mortgage arrangement fee for our clients with an active matter is £850 on a buy to let, against its standard £995. No VAT arises on either figure. Start the finance conversation before the search narrows, because knowing your true budget changes which properties are worth appraising.

Trent Law Solicitors handles the conveyancing for overseas buyers as routine work: identity verification from abroad, source of funds checks done properly under the anti-money laundering rules, and documents signed where you are, with notarial and legalisation requirements dealt with through Trent Notary within the same group where they arise. Our clients pay 10% less than the calculator price on Trent Law's site. Allow a little more time than a domestic purchase, mostly for identity and funds verification, and expect no surprises after that.

On the day the purchase completes, Overseas Landlord Management can begin: £600 setup, then 12% of the rent, fully managed only, with HMRC's Non-Resident Landlord Scheme operated and a named UK licence holder included where a licence is required. The file that bought the property runs it from day one, which is the point of doing all of this under one roof.

Trent Estate Agents Limited, Trent Law Solicitors and Trent Finance Limited are separate businesses in common ownership, and we disclose the connection to every client. Trent Law Solicitors is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Trent Finance Limited is an Appointed Representative of Dragon Brokers Limited, trading as The Dragon Network, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 599430. Trent Estate Agents Limited is not authorised by either regulator and gives neither legal nor financial advice, including tax advice. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.