Buying UK property from another country.
Most of our investors are based outside the UK. This page is the honest version of how that works — including the parts that are genuinely harder at a distance.
You never have to visit
Every property is documented with a full photographic set and a video walkthrough before you are asked to commit to anything. A good share of our investors have bought without ever coming to the UK.
You deal with one person
Not a sales team, not a rotating account manager. The same person answers you at the first enquiry and after the refurbishment has finished, on WhatsApp, in your time zone if that is what it takes.
You buy in your own name
The property is registered to you or your company at HM Land Registry. We are not a fund, we do not pool your money, and we never hold it. Your solicitor is yours, not ours.
You control when you convert
Currency only matters at the moment you move money, not for the whole time you own the property. If the rate is against you, you wait. We tell you what is payable and when, so the timing of the transfer stays your decision rather than a deadline.
The income starts without you
A social housing lease means rent is paid monthly by the provider whether the property is occupied or not — with nobody for you to chase and no tenant calls at three in the morning.
What you actually have to do
Less than most people expect, but not nothing. You will need to instruct a UK solicitor — we can introduce one, but they act for you, not for us. You will need to pass their identity and source-of-funds checks, which can usually be done remotely and is the step that most often causes delay, so start it early. You will need a way to transfer funds to your solicitor, and if you are using finance, a broker who works with overseas buyers.
What you will not need to do is appoint builders, find tenants, chase trades, or get on a plane.
Buying in your own name
The property is registered to you, or to your company, at HM Land Registry. Manchester Sourcing is not a fund, does not pool investor money and never holds your funds — those go from you to your solicitor and from your solicitor to the seller. From completion the property is legally yours regardless of what happens to your relationship with us.
Why most overseas investors choose a lease
A single-let buy-to-let managed by an agent is perfectly workable from abroad, but you still carry the void risk and you are relying on an agent you have never met. A social housing lease removes both: an established social housing provider takes a lease directly from you and pays a fixed rent monthly whether or not the property is occupied. There is nothing to manage and nobody to chase.
It is not free — the lease rent sits below the open-market rent, and that difference is what buys the certainty. For an investor several time zones away, that is usually a trade worth making.
Finance
Lending to overseas buyers exists and we can introduce brokers who arrange it regularly. It is typically interest-only at around a 25% deposit. Rates and criteria move, so treat any figure on this site as an illustration rather than a quote, and speak to a broker before you rely on it.
Tax
Non-resident buyers of UK residential property face a stamp duty surcharge, and UK rental income is taxable in the UK regardless of where you live. There is a Non-Resident Landlord Scheme that affects how tax is collected on your rent. We are not tax advisers and will not pretend to be — you need an accountant who deals with non-resident landlords, and we would rather tell you that plainly than gloss over it.
The one thing we would say. We have been doing this since 2018 and have bought over £70 million of property for other people, but you should not take that on faith. Ask us for references, ask us about the purchases that went badly as well as the ones that went well, and ask your solicitor to confirm everything independently. Anyone unwilling to invite that is not someone to send money to — us included.
Ask us the awkward questions.
Time zones are not a problem. Tell us where you are and we will work around it.