Expat Remortgage Case Study: £470K Raised for a Saudi Arabia-based UK National

A UK couple approached Clifton Private Finance to refinance their residential property and consolidate a significant level of unsecured borrowing. With the husband living and working in Saudi Arabia and the wife remaining in the UK, they required a lender comfortable with both their expat circumstances and a substantial debt consolidation requirement.

Clifton Private Finance secured a £470K residential remortgage, repaying the clients' existing mortgage while consolidating approximately £120K of unsecured debt. The new facility simplified their finances into a single, manageable repayment and significantly improved their overall financial position.

The Scenario

The clients were both UK nationals, with the husband based in Saudi Arabia for work and the wife residing in the UK. They had accumulated around £120K across ten separate credit cards and personal loans while carrying out extensive renovations to their property.

Their objective was to refinance their home, repay the existing mortgage balance of approximately £350K, and consolidate all unsecured borrowing into one affordable mortgage facility.

Challenges

Large-scale debt consolidation within a residential remortgage can significantly reduce the number of suitable lenders. We needed to:

• Source a lender willing to consolidate approximately £120K of unsecured debt, well above the limits accepted by many mainstream lenders
• Navigate the additional complexity of an expat application involving employment in Saudi Arabia
• Demonstrate that the refinance would improve affordability by replacing multiple high-cost repayments with a single mortgage
• Secure a solution that repaid both the existing mortgage and outstanding unsecured borrowing in one transaction

The Solution

By reviewing the clients' financial position in detail, we presented a clear case demonstrating that the unsecured borrowing had been incurred to fund improvements to their property rather than ongoing lifestyle expenditure. Consolidating the debts into the mortgage would substantially reduce their monthly commitments and improve affordability.

We identified a specialist lender with an appetite for complex expat cases and larger debt consolidation requirements. By structuring the refinance to repay both the existing mortgage and all outstanding unsecured borrowing, we delivered a solution that met the clients' objectives despite the restricted lender pool.

The Outcome

The £470K remortgage repaid the clients' existing mortgage and consolidated ten separate credit cards and loans into a single facility, simplifying their finances and easing monthly cash flow.

Without access to specialist lenders and tailored advice, the clients would have faced limited options due to both the scale of the debt consolidation and the husband's employment in Saudi Arabia.

The refinance provided a more sustainable long-term funding solution while allowing them to benefit from the value created through their property renovation.