How UK Expats in France Get a UK Mortgage in 2026
- Jun 19
- 10 min read
See how a British expat in France can get a UK mortgage, why a UK pension or remote salary often counts in full, and what lenders make of euro income.
Quick Answer
Yes. A British expat in France can get a UK mortgage to buy, let or remortgage a UK property, through specialist lenders reached by a broker. France is a little different from many expat destinations: a large share of British residents are retired or work remotely, and a UK pension or a sterling salary is counted in full, with no currency haircut. Euro income takes the usual discount. Expect to need a deposit, or equity, of around 25 percent and a live UK credit footprint.
Reviewed by Ben Stephenson, FCA authorised (FRN 496907) · 25+ years' experience · 4.9★ on Google. Updated: 19 June 2026.
Who This Guide Is For
Best for British expats living in France, whether working, self-employed, or retired on a UK pension, who want a UK mortgage to buy a home in the UK, let one out, or remortgage a property they already own while living across the Channel. It works equally well for a long-time resident and for someone who has only just made the move.
Key Points
A UK pension or sterling salary is usually counted in full, with no haircut
Euro income is accepted, but discounted for exchange-rate risk
A specialist lender, 25 percent deposit or equity, and a UK credit footprint are the usual asks
Table of Contents
France is full of British homeowners who still borrow in the UK
France has one of the largest British communities in Europe, spread from Paris and the Alps to the villages of the Dordogne and the Mediterranean coast. A good many of those residents keep a foot in the UK property market, whether a home to return to, a flat near family, or a let that earns while they live abroad. The idea that crossing the Channel ends your UK borrowing options is simply not true. If anything, France's large and long-established British community means lenders see these applications regularly.
The property is in the UK and the loan is in sterling, so the lender's real question is the familiar one: does your income stack up, and is your UK history intact. What makes France stand out is the income side. Because so many British residents there are retired or working for UK employers, a large share arrive at a UK lender with sterling income, which is treated more generously than euro earnings. That single fact reshapes a lot of French applications before anything else is even discussed.
The work, then, is mostly about getting the case to a lender that accepts France-based applicants and presenting your income in its best light. Do that and a French application looks much like any other expat case, only often with a stronger income position than people expect. It is one of the few expat destinations where the income side is often an advantage rather than a hurdle.
Why the high street says no
Most high-street lenders do not lend to people living outside the UK. Their systems are built around a UK address, UK-based income and a credit file they can score automatically, and a French address falls outside that template. The application is declined by the system before a human reads it, which is why a perfectly affordable case can be turned away in seconds. It is a postcode rule, not a verdict on you.
Specialist lenders take the case by hand instead. A number of them accept applicants in France, are comfortable with euro income and, importantly, know how to treat a UK pension or a sterling salary paid abroad. Because most work only through intermediaries, a broker who places expat mortgages is the practical route to them. They will also know which of those lenders are most generous with pension and sterling income, which is where France-based borrowers tend to win.
What your income is made of matters most
On a French case, the single biggest factor is what your income is made of. A UK pension is paid in sterling, so there is no currency to convert and no haircut to apply; lenders count it in full. For a great many British residents in France, that is the most valuable thing to understand about borrowing back home. The same is true of a salary from a UK employer you work for remotely. Euro income from a French job is accepted too, but converted to sterling and discounted, often by 10 to 25 percent, to allow for exchange-rate movements. So two French residents on identical headline incomes can be offered very different loans, purely because of the currency their money arrives in.
That distinction can change your borrowing markedly, and many British residents in France are in the stronger camp without realising it. The table sets out how the common income types are viewed.
Your income in France | How a UK lender treats it |
UK pension (sterling) | Counted in full, with no currency haircut |
Remote UK salary (sterling) | Counted in full, with no currency haircut |
French salary (euros) | Converted to sterling, with a haircut |
Self-employed in France | Assessed on accounts, with a smaller lender pool |
Whatever the source, lenders want it evidenced cleanly: pension statements, an employment contract and payslips, or accounts for the self-employed, plus bank statements showing the money arriving. A mix is fine, and where part of your income is sterling, it does the heavy lifting while the euro part fills in around it. For couples, it is common for one sterling pension and one euro salary to combine into a single, comfortable application.
Deposit, credit and paperwork
Plan for around 25 percent, whether that is a deposit on a purchase or equity in a property you already own. A buy-to-let, or a case where your UK ties have thinned, can push that towards 30 to 40 percent. The larger the deposit, the more a lender's caution is offset and the wider the panel willing to look at a France-based case. If your deposit comes from a UK source, such as savings or a previous sale, it is also one less currency conversion to evidence.
A live UK credit footprint is the other lever. Lenders score your UK file, not a French one, so a strong record in France does not carry across. Keeping a UK bank account, a credit card or an existing mortgage active keeps you visible on the UK system. Our guide to how lenders assess overseas income covers the evidence in more depth, which matters as much for pensioners as for employees. Even a single dormant UK card, reactivated, can make a difference.
On paperwork, keep it complete and consistent: proof of ID and your French address, evidence of each income source, bank statements, and a clear account of where any deposit came from. Anti-money-laundering checks are stricter on overseas files, so a clean, documented funds trail is what keeps the timeline short. Pension cases are usually the most straightforward of all, because the income is fixed, evidenced on a statement, and entirely in sterling.
Brexit, residency and your UK ties
Brexit changed how British people live in France, with most longer-term residents now holding a carte de séjour, but it changed very little about UK mortgage lending. For a UK lender you are resident in France, exactly as you would have been before, and that is what shapes the lender list and the income treatment. Your French residency paperwork is not something a UK mortgage lender assesses. What matters to them is your status as a non-UK resident, which is the same whether you hold a carte de séjour or not.
What does help is keeping your UK ties visible and easy to evidence: a UK bank account, a credit card, an existing mortgage, and a clear address history. For returning residents and second-home owners, those ties are often still strong, which underwriters like. The cleaner the link back to the UK, the more comfortable a lender is taking the case from across the Channel.
There is one practical point worth flagging. If you have only just arrived in France and recently stopped being a UK resident, some lenders will still treat you almost as a returning borrower, while others prefer to see you settled abroad first. A broker can read which lender suits where you are in that journey, so the timing of your application is matched to the right panel.
Case study: a retired couple in the Dordogne
A retired British couple living in the Dordogne, both drawing UK pensions paid in sterling, wanted to buy a small flat in Exeter to be near their grandchildren and to have a base in the UK. Two high-street banks declined them on the non-resident rule, without ever looking at the pension income behind the application.
We placed the case with a specialist lender comfortable with French-resident pensioners. Because the pensions were in sterling, the lender counted them in full with no currency haircut, and with a 35 percent deposit from the sale of a UK rental years earlier, the numbers were comfortable. The flat completed on a fair rate. Their income had been their strength all along; the first two lenders simply never reached it. It is a pattern we see often with retired clients in France: a strong, simple income that the automated systems never get to assess.
Rates and costs
Rates on an expat mortgage sit a little above the sharpest UK-resident deals, reflecting the smaller lender pool and the hand underwriting these cases need. For a France-based applicant with sterling income and a solid deposit, the gap is often modest, and it narrows as the deposit grows, so it is worth weighing a slightly higher rate against the value of an approval now. On a pension-backed case in particular, the affordability is usually so clear that the rate becomes the main thing left to optimise.
Budget for a few extra costs on top of the rate. Some lenders charge a higher arrangement fee, and a few add an assessment or telegraphic-transfer fee, alongside the usual valuation and legal bills. You will also want a UK solicitor happy to act for a borrower living abroad, and possibly a currency service if a deposit is sitting in euros. None of it is unusual, but it pays to price it in early.
It is worth knowing that an expat deal need not be permanent. If you later move back to the UK, you can usually remortgage onto a mainstream resident rate at the next opportunity. The expat product is the bridge that keeps the property financed while you are in France, not a rate you are committed to for the long term. That flexibility is worth keeping in mind when you weigh up today's rate.
The routes compared: buy, let, remortgage
Almost every France-based enquiry is one of three, and which suits you depends on what you want the UK property to do. The graphic lines them up side by side. Knowing which one you are really after saves time and points the search at the right lenders from the start.
Buying a UK home, as a base or a future return, is a residential expat mortgage and leans on your income, where sterling pension or salary is a real advantage. Letting a UK property out is an expat buy-to-let, where the rent does much of the work and your income matters less. And remortgaging a UK home you already own, to leave a high standard rate or release equity, runs on the same specialist panel.
Many French cases combine the last two: a home kept and let after the move, then remortgaged onto a better expat rate once the dust has settled. A broker can tell you quickly which route your income and plans point to, and which lenders sit behind it. Whichever route fits, the French advantage of sterling income tends to follow you across all three.
FAQs
Can a British expat in France get a UK mortgage?
Yes, in most cases. A specialist lender reached through a broker will lend to someone living in France to buy, let or remortgage a UK property, provided the income, deposit or equity, and UK credit picture stack up.
Is a UK pension good enough income for a UK mortgage?
Often yes. A UK pension is paid in sterling, so lenders count it in full with no currency haircut. Many retired British residents in France are in a stronger income position than they expect.
Will lenders accept my euro income?
Usually yes, but with a discount. Lenders convert euro income to sterling and apply a haircut, often 10 to 25 percent, for exchange-rate risk. Any sterling income you have is counted in full alongside it.
How big a deposit do I need from France?
Plan for around 25 percent for a residential purchase, and 30 to 40 percent for a buy-to-let or a weaker-tie case. On a property you already own, that figure is the equity in it.
Did Brexit change UK mortgages for expats in France?
Not really. You are still treated as resident in France for lending purposes, much as before. The bigger factors are your income, deposit and UK credit footprint, not your French residency paperwork.
Is it worth using a broker?
On a French case, very much so. Most lenders who accept France-based applicants work only through brokers, and a broker matches your income mix, deposit and ties to a lender likely to say yes.
Summary
A British expat in France can get a UK mortgage to buy, let or remortgage, through specialist lenders rather than the high street. The French advantage is income: a UK pension or sterling salary is counted in full with no haircut, while euro income is discounted. Expect around 25 percent deposit or equity and a live UK credit footprint. Present the income well and a French case is a comfortable one.
Updated: 19 June 2026
Written by Ben Stephenson, CeMAP-qualified Mortgage Broker.
Manor Mortgages Direct is FCA authorised, FRN 496907, has traded for 25 years, is highly positively reviewed, 4.9 rated on Google, and has helped thousands secure the right mortgage. Bristol-based mortgage brokers, assisting clients nationwide.
Sources
GOV.UK, Living in France (guidance for UK nationals), https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-france, accessed 19 June 2026
Bank of England, Bank Rate and monetary policy, https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate, accessed 19 June 2026
Hero photo: Roque-Gageac, Dordogne, France, by Jebulon, released CC0 (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
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