Using UK Equity to Buy in France
Yes, this can be possible, and your outline plan is a fairly common one: raise funds against the UK home, buy in France, then rent out the UK property to support retirement income. The key is that lenders will look at it as a two-stage strategy, and they’ll want comfort on how both properties are funded and whether the UK property remains affordable under different scenarios.
How You Could Raise the Money
If your home is worth around £250,000 and the French purchase is around £100,000, the simplest route is often to raise capital from the UK property via a remortgage (or a further advance with your existing lender). That gives you sterling funds to use towards the purchase costs in France, and it avoids relying on a French mortgage lender.
Whether you can raise the full amount, and on what terms, will depend less on the UK property value and more on affordability. Even if you are mortgage free, the lender will still assess whether your pension income (and your future NHS pension once you retire) comfortably supports the new borrowing.
What Happens When You Rent Out the UK Property
This is the bit that needs to be structured correctly.
If the UK property is currently your main residence, it will usually start on a residential basis. When you later move to France and rent it out, you typically need either “consent to let” (short-term, not always renewable, and not available in every case) or a switch to a buy-to-let mortgage.
If you will be living abroad at that point, it often becomes an expat buy-to-let, which narrows the lender pool and can change pricing and maximum loan-to-value. That’s why the timing matters, and why it’s helpful to plan the mortgage product around the eventual end position, not just what works today.
How Rental Income Is Treated by Lenders
The £15,000 a year rental figure is useful, but lenders won’t simply add that to income and move on. Most buy-to-let lenders “stress test” the rent against the mortgage payment at a higher assumed rate, and they often apply a coverage ratio.
If you’re raising money on a residential basis first, the lender may not give full credit for future rental income at the outset, because it is not yet in place and the property is not yet being run as a let. Some lenders take a more pragmatic view than others, but you should assume you’ll need to evidence affordability on pensions without leaning too heavily on projected rent.
Retirement Income and Mortgage Term
Your husband’s police pension is typically seen as stable income, and an NHS pension can be strong for lending as well, but the lender will want clarity on exact figures and start dates.
If you are planning to retire at 60, lenders will usually assess affordability on the retirement income if the mortgage runs beyond that point. In practice, that often means keeping the borrowing sensible, choosing an appropriate term, and being clear on whether you want the mortgage to be largely repaid before retirement or comfortably affordable after it.
France-Specific Practicalities
Buying in France is perfectly feasible, but you’ll want to budget properly for purchase costs and keep currency in mind. If you raise money in sterling and spend in euros, exchange rate movement can affect how far your funds go.
You’ll also want to think about how you’ll use the French property first. If it is a holiday home initially and only later becomes your main residence, that can change the most sensible financing route.
What We’d Need to Confirm to Give a Proper View
To assess whether this works cleanly, we’d typically want a full picture of income, outgoings, existing credit commitments, and the retirement timetable.
We’d also want to understand whether you plan to keep the UK property long term as a rental, and whether you want the flexibility to switch the mortgage type without being forced into a refinance at an awkward time.
