UK Mortgages on a Skilled Worker Visa

You moved to the UK on a Skilled Worker visa. You have a job, you have UK income, your salary on paper supports the mortgage you want. Then you walk into the bank and the conversation goes sideways.

This is one of the most misunderstood corners of the UK mortgage market. Plenty of lenders will work with Skilled Worker visa holders. Several do it well. But the high street consumer experience is uneven, and applications get declined for reasons that do not reflect the wider lender landscape.

The three things that matter most are how long you have left on your visa, how much deposit you have, and which lenders are open to your particular profile.

Who this page is for

You are in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa. You either want to buy a UK property, or you already own one and want to remortgage. You want to know whether the application will work, what borrowing is realistic, and which lender to approach.

Visa time remaining

Most UK lenders want a minimum amount of time left on your visa before they will lend. The thresholds vary:

• Some high street lenders want 12 months remaining
• Others want 24 months
• A small number have no minimum and assess on overall profile
• A handful will work with visas already in renewal

If your visa renews next year, this is not necessarily a barrier. It depends on which lender sees the application.

Deposit expectations

A Skilled Worker visa holder will usually need a larger deposit than a British buyer with the same income. The practical bands are:

• 5 to 10 per cent is possible with a small number of lenders, usually with conditions
• 15 to 25 per cent broadens the lender pool considerably
• 25 per cent and above opens specialist private bank options for larger loans

The deposit you bring does not just affect the rate. It affects which lenders are available to you at all.

Lender categories

Three broad groups consider Skilled Worker visa holders.

High street. Halifax, NatWest, Nationwide, Coventry, HSBC and Santander all have Skilled Worker visa criteria. Each one is different. A profile one declines, another accepts.

Specialists. A smaller pool of lenders that focus on non-standard income or visa profiles. Often higher rates but materially broader criteria.

Private banks. For loans typically £500,000 and above, or high-earning professionals in specific industries. A different model entirely, but worth knowing about for the right case.

The foreign income wrinkle

If part of your income is paid in a foreign currency, paid by a foreign entity, or earned during periods spent outside the UK, you have moved into haircut territory. Many high street lenders apply a 20 per cent reduction to that income before assessment. A small number do not. This single lever can change the borrowing figure by tens of thousands of pounds.

It applies most often to bonuses, equity, allowances paid by an overseas parent company, or income earned during postings abroad.

What the process looks like

We take the basic facts. Visa type and time remaining, employer, income, deposit, target property and price. We map them against current lender criteria. The output is usually three to five lenders worth approaching in order of fit.

A first conversation tells you whether the application is viable and what borrowing figure is realistic. No commitment, no charge.