US buyers are increasingly entering the Prime Central London market using leverage rather than cash, but many UK lenders are not equipped to assess offshore income and international wealth structures. This case study shows how an 85% LTV mortgage was secured for a US couple relocating to London.

The most interesting story in Prime Central London property right now is not the value of the homes. It is who is buying them. US clients are arriving in London in volume, and they are doing it with mortgages, not cash. That second part matters because the UK lender market has not adjusted to the shape of these buyers.

A recent deal of ours is a useful illustration. A US couple, recently relocated to London, approached us to fund the purchase of a £2.75 million Prime Central London home. They wanted an 85 per cent loan-to-value, which is a £2.375 million mortgage. They did not want to liquidate their US investment portfolio to bring in a larger deposit. That is sensible. Their US assets are working hard, the US dollar has done well, and selling them down to free up a sterling deposit would have crystallised a tax bill and forfeited future returns. They wanted leverage. They wanted it at the level a UK couple with a strong UK income would expect.

The standard UK mortgage market said no on three different grounds, before pricing was even part of the conversation. The clients did not hold indefinite leave to remain. Most household income came from a US business and was paid in US dollars into US accounts. And the UK-recognised earnings alone did not stretch to support an 85 per cent advance at this loan size. Each one of those is a problem on its own. Stacked together, they take a high street lender out of the conversation entirely.

What worked was a private bank that underwrites the full international balance sheet. It looked at US dollar income, US investment portfolios, residency intent, and the structure of the household's wealth, and priced the deal accordingly. The facility was completed at 85 per cent LTV on a hybrid repayment structure, weighted to interest-only with a smaller capital and interest element. That is the kind of underwriting US buyers in London need, and it is in shorter supply than it should be.

This deal is not an outlier. I am seeing more of them every month. There are three forces behind it. First, sterling weakness has made London property cheaper for dollar-earners than it has been in years. Second, US equity gains since 2024 have created a generation of paper-rich US households shopping for hard assets outside the US. Third, a steady migration of senior US professionals, founders and finance industry employees into London for work and lifestyle reasons has created a real demand for owner-occupier homes, not just trophy second properties.

The lender market has responded, but unevenly. Perhaps six London private banks now write meaningful volumes of mortgages to US clients with offshore USD income and short UK residency. The rest still require UK payslips, a UK tax return, 3 years of UK address history, and an ILR stamp. None of those things describes the typical US arrival in London in 2026. The clients who do not know this end up bringing far too much equity to the deal, or buying smaller than they should, or walking away from PCL entirely. None of those outcomes is necessary.

Three points for advisers and US buyers reading this. First, the loan is available. Even at 85 per cent LTV at over £2 million, the deal is doable with the right introduction. Second, the price you pay for the right lender is small relative to the value of holding the right home and the right portfolio at the same time. Third, the difference between a yes and a no is almost always the lender, not the borrower. Strong US buyers are turned down by UK lenders every week because they simply do not have the criteria to properly read their balance sheets.

The story underneath all of this is that the UK property market is now an international wealth market in a way it has never been before. The lender side will catch up. Right now, knowing which six banks to call is worth more than knowing which estate agent to use.

Read the full case study here: https://www.ennessglobal.com/insights/case-studies/85-ltv-mortgage-gbp275m-prime-central-london-home