Foreign currency earners are often underserved by UK mortgage structures, despite strong income and balance sheets. This case study shows how a tailored, multi-tranche mortgage was structured against an £11m prime London property to deliver flexibility, higher LTV, and efficient capital deployment.

There is a growing disconnect between the quality of international buyer demand for prime London property and the mortgage products available to service it. Buyers earning in dollars, euros, Swiss francs, or dirhams are approaching the London market with strong balance sheets, proven income, and clear affordability. But the lending infrastructure treats them as a complication rather than an opportunity.

We recently arranged a high loan-to-value mortgage against an £11 million prime central London property for an ultra-high-net-worth client paid in foreign currency. The deal was straightforward in principle: high income, significant assets, a prime property, and a clear ability to service the debt. In practice, it was anything but.

The client wanted three things. A low start rate for the initial period. The ability to overpay without early repayment charges when cash flow allows. And a high LTV, because deploying more capital into the property than necessary made no financial sense when the funds could earn a better return elsewhere. Each of those requirements is achievable in isolation. Combining all three at this value, with foreign currency income, narrows the lender pool to a handful of institutions.

The problem is how UK lenders assess foreign income. Most apply a haircut, discounting the income by 10 to 25 per cent to account for currency volatility. That sounds prudent until you consider the practical effect: a borrower earning the equivalent of £500,000 per year might be assessed as though they earn £375,000. The result is a lower maximum LTV, higher deposit requirement, and less flexibility on product terms. For UHNW borrowers with substantial liquid assets and stable multi-year income streams, the haircut bears no relationship to actual risk.

The solution in this case was to split the mortgage across product types. One tranche secured a competitive low-start rate for the initial period, giving the client certainty on costs during the early years. A separate tranche was structured with no early repayment charges and full overpayment flexibility, allowing the client to accelerate repayment as income permitted. The combined structure delivered everything the borrower needed without forcing a compromise on any single element.

This approach is not new, but it remains underused. Most borrowers and many advisers think of a mortgage as a single product with a single set of terms. Splitting the facility across tranches with different characteristics is standard practice in corporate lending, but rarely applied to residential mortgages, even at this level. The technique works because different lenders and different products within the same lender have different strengths. Matching the right product to the right portion of the debt is where the structuring value sits.

The broader market context matters here. Sterling has weakened against several major currencies over the past two years, making London property significantly cheaper for foreign currency earners. A dollar earner buying today is paying materially less in real terms than they would have three years ago. That currency advantage is driving demand, but the mortgage market has not fully responded. Lenders are still underwriting foreign currency income as though it were inherently riskier than sterling, even when the borrower's base currency is more stable.

For international buyers considering prime London, my advice is simple. Do not accept the first offer from a single lender. The variation in terms, LTV, and flexibility across the private bank and specialist lender market is enormous. A well-structured facility can save tens of thousands of pounds over the mortgage term and preserve capital for better uses. The mortgage should work as hard as every other part of the financial plan.

Read the full case study here: https://www.ennessglobal.com/insights/case-studies/high-loan-value-low-start-mortgage-against-gbp11m-property-client-paid-foreign-currency