£2.2M buy-to-let mortgage for a Dubai-based investor

Illustrative property image — not the clients’ actual property.

Loan amount

£2,200,000

Property value

£4,000,000 (approx.)

LTV

55%

Term

25 years

Repayment

Interest-only

Client base

Dubai

Challenge

A Dubai-based investor had identified a substantial UK investment property — a prime rental in London valued at approximately £4m — and required a significant buy-to-let mortgage to complete the acquisition. While the client held considerable assets and strong earning capacity, the priority was to structure the acquisition efficiently, preserving capital for other investment opportunities rather than concentrating equity in a single property. As a borrower resident in the UAE, securing finance at this level required careful lender selection: large loan requirements combined with overseas income and international assets often fall outside mainstream buy-to-let appetite, and the funding needed to recognise the strength of the client's overall financial position rather than rely solely on conventional criteria.

Solution

Clifton International facilitates introductions to specialist property finance teams, rather than acting as lender or mortgage adviser. Drawing on a network of specialist expat lenders and private banks experienced with globally mobile clients, the case was placed with a lender familiar with UAE tax residency and high-value buy-to-let transactions. A comprehensive picture of the client's wealth, income and investment strategy was presented to the lender, and the transaction was managed from initial enquiry through to completion — packaged around the property's rental cover and negotiated against aggregated exposure limits — so the structure supported both the acquisition and the client's wider financial objectives.

Funding structure

A £2.2m expat buy-to-let mortgage at approximately 55% LTV against a London investment property valued at around £4m, arranged over a 25-year interest-only term.

Outcome

The mortgage completed and the acquisition proceeded on schedule, allowing the client to expand UK property holdings while retaining substantial liquidity for future investments. The property was tenanted on a long-term assured shorthold tenancy within six weeks of completion. This is a reported case-specific outcome, not a promise of comparable terms; expat buy-to-let eligibility, rental cover and structure are assessed individually.