Getting a Mortgage as a Visa Holder in the UK
A practical guide to buying property and getting a mortgage in the UK when you are on a visa, covering lender requirements, deposit expectations, and which visa types are accepted.
- Section
- Practical Life in the UK
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Last checked
- 2 March 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- No immigration status is needed to own UK property. You do not even have to live in the UK.
- Deposit and visa-length requirements are lender policy, not law. No official source publishes a figure, so this guide gives none.
- The non-UK resident stamp duty surcharge is 2 percentage points, and it turns on a 183-day presence test, not on your visa or your tax residence.
- That surcharge can be reclaimed if you are in the UK for 183 days in any continuous 365 days inside the 2-year window around the purchase.
- Stamp duty land tax applies in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland charges land and buildings transaction tax, Wales land transaction tax, with their own rates.
Nothing in law stops a visa holder from buying property or borrowing to do it. The obstacle is lender policy, which is commercial, unpublished as a set, and changes often — so this guide gives no deposit percentages, because no official source publishes any. What it does give you is the part with real figures: the stamp duty rates, the 2% non-UK resident surcharge and the 183-day test behind it, and what happens to the property if a visa is not renewed.
Can Visa Holders Buy Property in the UK?
Yes. There is no legal restriction on anyone — regardless of nationality or immigration status — buying property in the UK. You do not need a visa, residency, or any particular immigration status to own property. You do not even need to live in the UK.
The challenge is not buying property but financing it. Getting a UK mortgage on a visa is more difficult than for British citizens, though it is certainly possible. Many visa holders successfully buy property in the UK every year.
How Lenders View Visa Holders
Mortgage lenders assess risk. Their concern with visa holders is straightforward: if your visa expires or is not renewed, you may leave the UK, and the lender wants to know they can recover their money. This leads to stricter lending criteria:
- A larger deposit. How much larger is set by each lender. No government or regulator publishes a figure, so any percentage you read in a guide is that writer's guess
- Time left on the permission. Many lenders set a minimum remaining period, and some want the permission to outlast the mortgage term. Again, each sets its own
- A narrower product range. The lenders that accept a given visa are a subset of all lenders, so the choice of rate is smaller
- More documentation. Expect to provide your passport and proof of immigration status. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024, so status is now an eVisa in a UKVI account and is proved with a share code, which lasts 90 days
Mortgage Options by Visa Type
ILR or Settled Status
If you have ILR or EU Settled Status, there is no expiry date on your permission for a lender to price against, which is why this is the widest set of options available. The deposit and rate are then the same commercial questions any borrower faces.
Skilled Worker Visa
Skilled Worker visa holders are accepted by both high street and specialist lenders. Which ones, on what terms, changes: this guide names none, because a list of lenders goes out of date faster than anything else on the page. What lenders generally ask for:
- A minimum period left on the permission, set by that lender
- A deposit, at a level set by that lender
- Proof of employment and salary from your sponsor
- Proof of immigration status, through a share code from your eVisa
Spouse Visa
Spouse visa holders can get mortgages, often using their partner's income as the primary earner on a joint application. If your British citizen or settled partner is the main applicant, lenders may be less concerned about your visa status. A joint application is usually the strongest approach.
Student Visa
Buying on a student visa is not prohibited, but the lender market for it is very small: the permission is short and, in most cases, the income is limited or restricted by the visa's own work conditions. A Student cannot be self-employed, and there are hour limits on employment during term time, both of which affect what income a lender can count.
The Deposit Question
The deposit is usually the biggest hurdle, and it is also the figure most often stated as though it were a rule. It is not. There is no legal minimum deposit for anyone, and no published visa-holder minimum. Ask lenders, or a broker, for the current requirement against your own permission.
Sources of deposit that lenders generally accept:
- Savings. Your own savings, held in a UK bank account for at least 3 months. See our bank account guide.
- Gifted deposit. Money gifted by a family member, with a signed gift letter confirming it does not need to be repaid.
- Overseas funds. Money transferred from your home country. You will need to show the source and provide evidence of the transfer. Anti-money laundering checks will apply.
Using a Mortgage Broker
The case for a broker here is specific: lender criteria for visa holders are not published as a set anywhere, and they change. A broker who tracks them knows which lenders are currently accepting a given permission, and some products are only sold through intermediaries.
Mortgage brokers must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, or be an appointed representative of a firm that is. You can check any firm or individual on the Financial Services Register before you engage them, and it costs nothing to do so.
Stamp Duty Considerations
Stamp duty land tax applies to property in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland charges land and buildings transaction tax instead, and Wales charges land transaction tax, each with its own rates and thresholds.
The residential rates in England and Northern Ireland are:
- Up to £125,000 — nothing
- £125,001 to £250,000 — 2%
- £250,001 to £925,000 — 5%
- £925,001 to £1.5 million — 10%
- Above £1.5 million — 12%
First-time buyer relief pays nothing up to £300,000 and 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, and is not available at all above £500,000. Buying an additional residential property adds a 5% surcharge.
The Non-UK Resident Surcharge
A further 2 percentage points is added for a non-UK resident buyer. The test is not your visa and not your tax residence. HMRC's guidance puts it this way: individual buyers are non-UK resident for this purpose "if they are not present in the UK for at least 183 days during the 12 months before their purchase".
The surcharge can be reclaimed. If you are present in the UK for at least 183 days during any continuous 365-day period inside the 2-year window that starts 364 days before the transaction and ends 365 days after it, you can amend the stamp duty return and get the 2% back. The amendment has to be made within 2 years of the effective date of the transaction.
What Happens If Your Visa Is Not Renewed?
If your visa expires and is not renewed, you still own the property. Property ownership is not dependent on immigration status. However, you would need to decide whether to:
- Continue paying the mortgage from abroad (your obligation to the lender continues regardless of where you live).
- Sell the property.
- Let the property (you would need to inform your lender and may need to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage).
Your lender will not automatically repossess your property if you leave the UK, as long as you continue making payments.
Next Steps
Two things on this page have published figures behind them: the stamp duty rates and the 183-day test for the non-resident surcharge. Everything about deposits and lender acceptance does not, and is set by each lender. Get current figures from lenders or a broker rather than from any guide, this one included.
For help with other aspects of settling in the UK, see our guides on opening a bank account, National Insurance numbers, and employment rights. For official guidance on stamp duty, see the GOV.UK stamp duty page and the non-resident surcharge guidance.
You may also find our Immigration Health Surcharge andUK Visa Fees: Complete Guide helpful.
Questions and answers
Can I get a mortgage in the UK on a visa?
Yes. Nothing in law stops someone on a visa from owning UK property or borrowing against it, and no immigration status is needed to buy. What restricts it is lender policy: each lender sets its own rules on which visas it accepts, how long must be left on the visa, and what deposit it wants. Those rules are commercial, unpublished as a set, and change often.
How much deposit do I need as a visa holder?
There is no published answer, because deposits are set by each lender rather than by any rule. Lenders commonly ask a visa holder for more than they would ask a British citizen for, but the number differs by lender, by visa, by how long is left on it, and by the property. Ask lenders or a broker for current figures rather than trusting a percentage printed in a guide.
Which visa types can get a mortgage?
No visa is excluded by law. In practice, settlement (indefinite leave to remain) and settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme give the widest choice, because a lender has no expiry date to price in. Time-limited permissions narrow the field, and the shorter the remaining permission, the narrower it gets. Each lender publishes its own criteria; there is no central list.
Do I need ILR to get a mortgage?
No. Settlement is not a legal requirement for a mortgage, and property ownership does not depend on immigration status at all. Settlement does remove the expiry date that lenders price against, which is why the choice of lender is usually wider with it than without.
Should I use a mortgage broker as a visa holder?
Lender criteria for visa holders are not published in one place and change often, which is the practical case for using a broker who tracks them. A broker regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority can be checked on the Financial Services Register before you engage them.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.