Buying Property in AustraliaFrom London
Home loan, refinancing and investment lending advice for Australians and expats buying from London. We’re former bankers, we compare 40+ lenders, we’re paid by the lender (not by you), and we work London hours.
- Australian citizens in the United Kingdom face no FIRB approval and no foreign-buyer ban: the whole Australian market is open to you, established homes included, and permanent residents are generally treated the same way while they remain ordinarily resident in Australia.
- British pounds sit on the preferred currency list, so lenders commonly count 80 per cent of your net salary, and foreign overtime, allowances, commission and bonuses are now accepted in servicing at select lenders.
- London runs nine hours behind Melbourne: a 7am London call lands at 4pm in Melbourne, so your morning is our afternoon. We work your evening, not ours.
- The full journey, documents to settlement without a flight, is in our step-by-step overseas buying guide. This page covers what is specific to London.
British pounds, through a lender’s eyes
A British pound salary lands on the preferred currency lists, so Australian lenders commonly count around 80 per cent of the net figure after shading, while treatment of overtime, allowances and bonuses shifts from desk to desk. Most credit teams also model the income at Australian tax scales even where the actual UK rate is lower. Picked blind, the wrong lender can leave six figures of budget sitting on the table from the same London payslip.
More Australians live in London than in most Australian regional cities, and the flight home has never mattered less to the purchase.
Because sterling sits on that preferred list, the shading is the friendly kind: 80 per cent of your net salary commonly survives assessment, and select lenders now let foreign overtime, allowances, commission and bonuses into servicing as well. The quirk worth knowing before you model anything: your pay is usually assessed as though Australian tax applied to it, even where your actual rate in the UK is lower, one more reason the choice of lender moves the budget so far.
For your own number, take today’s sterling rate from xe.com and put it through the shading calculator on our expat guide. Hold onto one caveat while you do: on the identical London payslip, the gap between the most generous and least generous lender routinely runs to six figures of budget. That is why the lender question comes before the property search, not after it.
London’s Australian community clusters in finance, law, consulting and media, and the classic pattern is five-to-ten years on the pound before the pull of home wins. That career arc matters to lenders: British payslips, bonuses and long employment histories document beautifully, and the sterling salary that felt necessary in zone two converts into serious buying power in Melbourne or Brisbane.
One London anchor before you price anything: the Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent at its July 2026 meeting, with the next decision due on 17 September 2026 (Bank of England, checked 23 August 2026). Bank Rate frames what a mortgage feels like it should cost in London, but it has no direct bearing on an Australian loan, which is priced in Australian dollars off Australian funding conditions, so leave the UK rate instinct at Heathrow and let the assessment above set the numbers.
Live recalculation with every keystroke, and nothing you type leaves your browser: the figures stay on your device, invisible to us and to anyone else. The 80 per cent tier and the cap of five on debt-to-income are indicative assessment settings only; tax modelling, commitments and full serviceability set the real figure, and the same payslip still prices six figures apart across lenders. General information only, not credit advice.
Set the worked example beside our August 2026 house-median tracking and the geography sorts itself: Sydney $1,282,020, Brisbane $1,126,149, Perth $1,050,354, Adelaide $950,703, Melbourne $812,621. An indicative ceiling of about $984,000 clears the Adelaide and Melbourne house medians with room to spare, while Sydney, Brisbane and Perth ask for a larger deposit, a second income or a different property type. Because the comparison is priced at the worked example’s illustrative rate, the ceiling shifts whenever sterling does, precisely the movement the calculator above tracks live. The full median tracker carries every capital in detail.
Five years of the pound, in Australian dollars
The five-year sterling story, on Reserve Bank of Australia monthly data: one pound bought about A$1.88 in August 2021, A$1.96 in August 2023, A$2.06 in August 2025 and about A$1.91 now. Land a £100,000 deposit in the best of those months and it arrived as $209,600; land it in the worst and it arrived as $169,348. That $40,252 gap is money the market handed out for timing alone, which is why the transfer plan deserves the same attention as the lender shortlist.
This is the one variable in the purchase you cannot negotiate, only manage. Check the live rate at xe.com, feed it to the calculator above, and watch what a few cents does to your deposit before the move happens rather than after. Staging large transfers in tranches beats trusting a single morning, and every leg belongs inside the settlement-transfer safeguards. The figures are RBA monthly averages, shared as general information, not financial or FX advice.
The practical bits, from London
Practicalities for London-based buyers: the time difference of nine hours behind Melbourne shapes call scheduling rather than preventing it; documents follow the standard expat file of employment evidence, bank statements and recent payslips; documents are typically in English, simplifying the file; and inspections, contracts and settlement all complete remotely as covered in the step-by-step guide.
- Time zones: London is nine hours behind Melbourne. A 7am London call lands at 4pm in Melbourne, so your morning is our afternoon, and our calendar shows slots in your local time.
- Documents: the standard expat file applies: employment contract or letter, three months of salary credits, two payslips no older than about 60 days. Payslips and contracts are typically issued in English, which keeps the document file straightforward.
- On the ground: Manchester, Edinburgh and everywhere else on the pound work identically. Inspections, exchange and settlement all run remotely: the mechanics are Steps 5 and 6 of the main guide.
- Your UK visa clock: many Australians in London are on the Youth Mobility Scheme, which is open to Australian citizens aged 18 to 35 for a stay of up to two years, and Australians can extend by one further year (GOV.UK, checked 23 August 2026). Where you sit on that clock is worth naming early, because it decides whether you are buying a home to land in or a property that will be rented until you return, and lenders read the two files differently.
- The market you are buying into: premium values fell 3.2 per cent in the three months to July while clearance rates sit under 50 per cent: the case for this cycle is in our buyer’s market analysis and buy-back window piece.
One tax sentence for the London file: spend 183 days or more of a UK tax year in the United Kingdom and you are automatically UK tax resident under HMRC’s rules, with UK residents generally taxed on their worldwide income (GOV.UK), so put your own position to a UK tax adviser before you buy in Australia from London.
In London? Start with one email. Email ahmed@everstonefinance.com.au, the link pre-fills a short template, and we reply within a day, your time. Or book a slot that lands in your evening.
Australians elsewhere: our guides for Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin, or the full overseas playbook.
Already own in Australia? Refinance and equity release, from London
Owning in Australia while working in London usually means a loan that has been on autopilot for years. From London you can reprice it, refinance it at select lenders, or release equity toward the next purchase, all remotely on the same GBP assessment described above. The mechanics favour you: a repricing request is an email, not a meeting, and a 7am London send lands in Melbourne at 4pm, still inside the same business day. According to Everstone Finance, Australians in London can refinance an Australian mortgage entirely from London: identity is certified locally, loan documents are signed electronically, and settlement runs through PEXA, the electronic settlement platform used for Australian property.
There is also a quiet advantage the currency section above makes obvious: while a £100,000 transfer swung by about $40,252 across five years of exchange rates, the rate on your Australian loan has nothing to do with sterling at all. It is the one number in your position you can improve from London without touching the currency market. Start with the repricing-then-refinance playbook in our negotiate-your-rate guide, then check the current cashback market, which pays switchers who qualify. If the property has grown while you have been away, select lenders will refinance it from overseas and release part of that growth as the deposit for a second purchase, and UK credit conduct can support the file as supplementary evidence. Serviceability across both loans on shaded income, current valuations and LVR caps still decide the shape, which is where a former banker earns the conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Can an Australian living in London buy property in Australia?
Yes. For citizens the test is simple: FIRB treats Australian citizens abroad exactly as it treats them at home, so nothing needs approving and nothing is off limits, established houses included. Permanent residents are generally treated the same way while they remain ordinarily resident in Australia, though a PR holder who has lived overseas for an extended period can be treated as a foreign person under FIRB rules and should confirm their position before signing a contract. What remains is execution, lending, paperwork and settlement, and all of it runs on email and documents across the nine hours between London and Melbourne.
How much of a GBP salary will an Australian lender count?
Commonly around 80 per cent of net salary, since British pounds sit on the preferred currency lists, with overtime, allowances and bonuses now accepted at select lenders. Policies differ enough between lenders to move the budget by six figures, felt nowhere more than on the finance, law, consulting and media packages London runs on.
Do I need to fly back to Australia to buy?
No. Inspections run by video and local eyes, contracts sign electronically in most cases, and settlement completes electronically between your conveyancer and lender, so the nine hours between London and Melbourne never need crossing in person. The step-by-step mechanics are in our main overseas buying guide.
What documents do I need from London?
The file from London is short: a signed employment contract or a letter from your employer, bank statements covering three months of salary credits, and your two most recent payslips, neither older than about 60 days. Bonus or allowance income needs its own evidence on top. Everything is typically issued in English already, so nothing needs translating. Manchester, Edinburgh and everywhere else on the pound assemble exactly the same file.
Will my London bonus count towards an Australian loan?
At select lenders, yes: foreign bonuses, commission and incentives are now accepted in servicing, evidenced by bank statements showing the credits plus employer letters or payslips covering the most recent year. Lenders differ on averaging and haircuts, which is part of the matching exercise. In a London community clustered in finance, law, consulting and media, the bonus evidence is often the piece that moves the budget most.
Will buying property in Australia change my tax residency?
No single asset settles it: Australian tax residency rests on wider tests of where your life, ties and intentions point, and a property purchase on its own does not tip them. Put the scenario to a registered tax professional before you exchange, above all if a move home inside a few years is on the cards. It is a live question for Londoners midway through the classic five-to-ten-year stint on the pound.
When should I convert my GBP savings into Australian dollars?
Nobody calls the right day in advance, and the five-year sterling spread above prices exactly what that uncertainty can cost from London. Staging transfers spreads the risk that a single conversion date concentrates. Just as important, lenders want deposit funds traceable and seasoned, which is why the movement plan sits at the start of the process rather than settlement week.
I have been in London for years. Does my Australian credit history still count?
Time abroad does not put a mark on an Australian credit file: older entries simply age off over roughly two to five years, so a long London stint usually means a thin file rather than a bad one. Lenders assessing expats expect exactly that, UK credit conduct can support the file as supplementary evidence, and a clean record before you left never counts against you.
I already own a property in Australia. Can I refinance or release equity from London?
Yes, at select lenders: expat policy covers refinancing and equity release as well as purchases, assessed on the same shaded GBP basis, and the process runs on email and documents rather than meetings, so the nine hours between London and Melbourne is a scheduling detail rather than an obstacle. Equity released from an existing Australian property can fund the deposit on the next one, subject to serviceability across both loans, current valuations and LVR caps.
Can I refinance my Australian investment property from London if it is rented out?
In most cases, yes. Lenders can assess the Australian rental income alongside your London salary, and an investment loan that has sat on the same rate for years is often the first thing worth reviewing. The refinance runs remotely on the same GBP assessment described on this page, and a property you already own does not need FIRB approval to refinance.
London to Melbourne is one conversation. Start it tonight, your time.
Your GBP salary through the right lender’s eyes, your real budget in both currencies, and the whole purchase run remotely by former bankers. No cost, no obligation.
Book a chat with a former bankerThe people behind Everstone
You’re trusting someone with one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make. Here’s who you’ll actually be working with.
Ahmed Lotfi
A former major-bank lender who now works entirely for you. Ahmed handles structuring, refinancing and investment lending across the 40+ lender panel.
Zappelin Heng
Co-founder with deep lender experience, focused on getting complex and self-employed files assessed on their real strength, not a tick-box.
About the author. Ahmed Lotfi is co-founder of Everstone Finance and a former banker who now works as a mortgage and finance broker in South Yarra, Melbourne, arranging home, investment and commercial lending for Australians at home and abroad. Everstone Finance operates under the Best Interests Duty as Credit Representative 574314 of LMG Broker Services Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 517921.