Case study
How we helped a couple secure a UK mortgage with overseas business income and family employment.
Case summary:
Client type: Couple recently returned to the UK
Mortgage purpose: UK home purchase
Residency: Returned to the UK during the current year
Income currency: Euros
Mr’s income: Own business in Germany
Mrs’ income: Employment with her father’s company in Spain
Working arrangements: Both working remotely from the UK
Main challenges: Overseas self-employment and foreign family-company employment
The client
Our clients were a couple buying a home after moving back to the UK earlier in the year.
Mr ran his own business in Germany, while Mrs worked for her father’s company in Spain. Both would continue working remotely from the UK and receiving their income in euros.
The situation
Although the couple were now living in the UK, their income remained connected to businesses overseas.
The application therefore needed to explain how their working arrangements would continue following the move, how each income was generated and how it could be evidenced.
The challenge extended beyond finding a lender that accepted euros. The sources of those earnings and the lender’s ability to assess them were equally important.
The self-employment challenge
Mr ran his own German business. This presented a different underwriting proposition from someone employed by a recognised international company.
Relatively few lenders are comfortable assessing overseas self-employment. The lender needed to understand the business’s financial position, Mr’s income from it and whether that income could continue while he worked from the UK.
A willingness to accept foreign currency earnings alone would not resolve this part of the case.
The family-employment challenge
Mrs worked for her father’s company in Spain.
Employment by an immediate family member can require additional scrutiny to establish that the role is genuine and the earnings are sustainable. The lender needed to be comfortable with the substance of the employment arrangement, rather than relying solely on the stated salary.
The employer’s location made those checks more difficult. Assessing a foreign company and its records added another layer to the due diligence required.
The affordability challenge
The couple had returned to the UK during the same year as their proposed purchase.
Both intended to retain their overseas work, so the application needed to explain how those arrangements would operate remotely and why the move would not interrupt their earnings.
Their euro income also needed to be considered against a mortgage payable in sterling, alongside the separate questions surrounding self-employment and family employment.
Our solution
The case required a lender able to consider both income sources together: overseas self-employment from Germany and employment within a family-owned business in Spain.
Our approach centred on presenting each applicant’s circumstances separately, while explaining how their combined working arrangements would continue from the UK.
For Mr, the focus was on the underlying business and the sustainability of his income. For Mrs, it was on the employment relationship, the longevity of her role and the evidence supporting her earnings.
Bringing these elements together gave the lender a clear account of how the couple earned their income and why their return to the UK was compatible with continuing that work.
Our clients’ outcome
We were able to secure a mortgage that recognised both applicants’ overseas earnings and supported their purchase of a UK home.
This case illustrates why complex income requires more than a foreign-currency policy. The lender also needs to understand the business behind the earnings, the employment relationships involved and how the income will continue after a change of residence.
Frequently asked questions.
Every client and every mortgage is different, but there are some questions we are asked regularly.
From affordability and deposits to complex income, expat mortgages and specialist property finance, our FAQs explain how different lenders may approach different circumstances.
Find out more….
Read our perspective….
