house purchase on behalf on non UK resident

[Madmum24]

My BIL is interested in investing some money in UK, in the form of a house purchase. He is a non UK resident (lives in Asia) and doesn't have nationality (has never been to UK and doesn't intend to really come here either) so wants to buy to let ideally.

I now have been granted power of attorney by him to go ahead and purchase a property, however I can't find a solicitor who seems to be familiar with this process. It is legal but they have basically said they are not familiar with the laws surrounding it.

Does anyone here have legal knowledge of this, or point me towards a solicitor who does?

Many thanks

[Choccywoccydodah]

Why does he want to buy here?

[Madmum24]

Investment. House prices are low at the moment. He has several children coming up to uni age and the hope would be that he could sell in a few years to put aside some money for that.

[Choccywoccydodah]

Im not sure how it all works with non residents. The only thing i know they could do that i could think of is give you the money, and you get the mortgage, but it would all be in your name.

[Madmum24]

It is an auction property therefore a cash buy, so mortgage is not an option. Thanks anyway!

[Choccywoccydodah]

I'd still say the deeds would have to be in your name. Good luck searching for an answer

[nickymanchester]

I'd still say the deeds would have to be in your name

This is totally incorrect. There is nothing to stop anyone non-resident from owning property in the UK.

However, there are some issues if you're looking a buying a property worth more than £2m.

Assuming that your BIL isn't looking in the multi-million pound bracket then most non-resident property owners currently own property through an offshore company, however there were some changes in this year's budget that mean that that won't always be the best way to go forward with it.

So, there is nothing stopping your BIL owning property in his name or that of a company either in the UK or abroad. The decision will depend on what is best in terms of tax etc. He needs to take appropriate advice on what is best for him personally.

Here is a link that gives some of the background to the sort of things that he should consider. What he needs to think about is basically income tax from renting it out, capital gains tax when he sells it and inheritance tax when he dies:-

www.blplaw.com/know-how/expert-updates/non-uk-residents-holding-uk-real-estate-post-budget-2012/