Podcast approved by The Openwork Partnership on 02/08/2023.

We explore Tier Two Visa mortgages with Manus Bonner-Tymms.

What is a Tier Two visa?

A Tier Two visa – or as it’s now known, a Skilled Worker visa – is essentially a visa that allows you to live and work in the UK. It usually applies if you’re working in a role that fits certain conditions and eligibility criteria.

There is a list of occupation types, minimum income and approved companies within the UK. The visa will have an expiry date, but it basically allows you to to live and work in the UK.

Why is it a challenge to obtain a mortgage with a Tier Two visa?

First of all, not all lenders will offer you a mortgage with a Tier Two or skilled worker visa. It’s mainly down to the temporary nature of the visa. Whilst they are renewable, and you might have a set job contract that lines up with your visa, you’re seen as slightly higher risk. You might, for example, only be approved for two years at the point of application.

Not all lenders will accept that. In terms of the ones that do, eligibility criteria varies. There might be a minimum deposit, minimum income or minimum time left in the UK. So it can be a bit of a minefield in terms of finding the right lender to offer you a mortgage.

How do I check or improve my credit if I am on a Tier Two visa?

We often see not poor credit, but lack of credit on a Tier Two visa – and that’s because of limited UK address history. If you’ve only been living in the UK for a year and you’re in a highly paid job at a financial institution, for example, you might not even have a credit card. It might just not be something you have needed.

Pair that up with the fact that you’ve only lived in the UK for a year, and British financial institutions just don’t have a footprint for you. So it’s not that you have bad credit – there is simply very limited information about you – and that can hold you back.

To improve it is tricky. One thing that will help is having a credit card or any kind of credit account that you’re managing well. Paying it off every month will build up that history of credit worthiness.

If you are using a company like Exprian to check your credit and you do have quite a good income, you can do what’s called an Experian Boost. You link your current accounts to your Experian account and that tells Experian that you have a steady income coming in.

It won’t boost it massively but it helps, especially if you are just below the threshold to obtain a mortgage.