Butterfield Mortgages

Butterfield Mortgages Limited lends from £1 million to £20 million against prime residential property in London and the South of England, at a maximum of 65% loan to value, on interest-only terms of up to ten years. It is a standalone prime property lender rather than a full-service private bank, so there is no requirement to move investments or open accounts, and it is the lender we use most often for foreign nationals, non-UK residents and clients buying prime London through an offshore company or a trust. This page sets out its published criteria, its products and pricing basis, who it suits, and where it is beaten.

See how Butterfield compares with Coutts, Investec, Barclays Private Bank and the other UK private banks on our private bank mortgage lenders comparison.

What changed this quarter. Reviewed 10 October 2026. No changes found. Bank Rate was held at 3.75% on 30 July and 17 September 2026, so tracker rates priced as a margin over it have not moved. The parent group reported second quarter results on 27 July 2026 with group net loans flat at $4.4 billion. A £4.5 million corporate buy to let loan at 65% loan to value on two prime central London properties, announced on 8 September 2026, shows appetite is open. We found no announced change to the £1 million minimum loan, the 65% maximum loan to value or the prime London and South of England focus.

What are the Butterfield mortgage lending criteria?

Butterfield is one of the few prime lenders that publishes a product guideline sheet, so most of the table below is the bank's own stated position. The client eligibility rows come from the bank's published guidance to brokers and from the cases we have placed.

Lender criteria are set by Butterfield Mortgages Limited, change without notice, and are not binding until confirmed in writing. Figures correct at the time of publication and checked against the bank's published product guidelines. Always confirm current terms with us before quoting a client or making an offer.

What mortgage products does Butterfield offer?

Four facility types, all built around prime residential property. The owner-occupied mortgage covers a main residence or a pied-a-terre. The buy to let mortgage covers investment property, and Butterfield underwrites it on the borrower's overall position rather than on rental cover alone, which is why a prime London flat with a thin yield can work here when it fails a standard stress test elsewhere. The bridging facility, on a base rate tracker for 12 to 18 months, and the refurbishment loan, agreed case by case, are what make Butterfield useful on a purchase that is not yet mortgageable: a short lease being extended, a property bought at auction, or a house needing work before it can be let or lived in.

The bank's own published case from September 2026 shows how those pieces fit together. An investor with UK and international assets bought two prime central London properties worth £7 million combined through a holding company and two SPVs, with a lease extension running on one, refurbishment needed on the other, and rental projections that failed standard buy to let stress testing. Butterfield lent £4.5 million at 65% loan to value across two corporate facilities and adapted as the structure changed mid-application. That is the case shape we send to Butterfield: prime London, a structure, and at least one thing a mainstream underwriter would use as a reason to say no.

What are Butterfield mortgage rates?

Butterfield does not publish a rate card. What it publishes is the pricing basis, and that is more useful than a headline rate. Every facility is priced at a margin over the Bank of England base rate, assessed case by case, and the pay rate can never fall below 2.5% whatever base does. The Bank of England base rate is 3.75%, held at the 30 July and 17 September 2026 meetings, with the next decision due on 5 November 2026. Fixed rates over various terms sit alongside the tracker for owner-occupied loans above £2 million, and typical tracker margins have run at two to three percentage points over base on the cases we have placed. Add the 1% arrangement fee and the exit fee from 0.5% and the all-in cost is materially above a high street large loan.

That is the trade, not a criticism. Butterfield is not pricing against Nationwide or HSBC, because the client Butterfield writes for cannot get a Nationwide or HSBC mortgage: they live abroad, they are buying through a BVI company, or their income does not appear on a P60. Where a client could qualify on the high street at 65% or below, we say so and place the case there. What we have found across the international cases we have placed is that the real choice is between Butterfield and one or two other lenders that will accept the structure at all, and on that comparison Butterfield is competitive and often faster.

Who is a Butterfield mortgage right for?

Butterfield describes its business as residential mortgages against prime property in London and the South of England for UK and overseas high net worth clients, and that is who we send. The non-UK resident buying a London home for a child at university or for their own visits. The foreign national relocating on a work visa whose income is paid in dollars or dirhams. The family buying through an offshore company for succession reasons, or a trust settled decades ago that now needs to release equity. And the London landlord restructuring into SPVs who wants a lender that will underwrite the whole balance sheet rather than the rent on one flat.

The client we place with Butterfield most often is an international buyer, resident outside the UK, purchasing in Kensington, Chelsea, Belgravia or St John's Wood at 55% to 65% loan to value, through a company, with income and assets overseas. That client is declined at the first question by most UK lenders. Our blunt view: if you need 75% loan to value, a 25-year term or a property outside the prime South of England, Butterfield is the wrong lender and no amount of packaging will change that. Everything else about the case can be complicated and Butterfield will still look at it.

Does Butterfield lend to non-residents and foreign nationals?

Yes, and it is the reason the lender exists. Butterfield's UK mortgage business was set up in 2016 to serve domestic and overseas high net worth clients buying prime London property, and its business development team includes people whose remit is the ultra high net worth and international book. The bank lends to the owners of SPVs, offshore companies and trusts, and to foreign nationals buying in the UK, provided they meet the high net worth test and can evidence source of wealth. In our experience the source of wealth file is the whole application on an international case. A clear paper trail from the origin of the money to the deposit account moves quickly. A trail that runs through three jurisdictions and a nominee company does not, and we tell the client that before the valuation is instructed, not after.

How does the Butterfield application process work?

Butterfield lends through brokers and direct, with a business development team in the City whose job is to talk cases through before anything is submitted. We discuss the case with the relevant business development manager first, confirm appetite on the property, the structure and the client, and agree an indicative margin. Only then do we build the pack: passport and residency evidence for each borrower and beneficial owner, two to three years of income evidence in whatever form it takes, a schedule of assets and liabilities in the currency of origin, source of wealth and source of deposit, and for a company or trust, the constitutional documents, the register of members or beneficiaries, and the resolution to borrow.

Butterfield underwrites manually and its head of credit has been with the group since 2006, so the questions come early and they are the right ones. The September 2026 case above changed from personal to corporate ownership during the application and the bank carried on rather than starting again, which tells you most of what you need to know about the credit team. A complete case with a clean source of wealth typically reaches offer within four to six weeks. The legal work on an offshore company is where the timetable is usually lost, not in the bank.

How does Butterfield compare with other private banks?

Butterfield has the lowest published minimum loan of the lenders on this page at £1 million, no assets under management requirement, and the widest appetite for offshore structures and non-resident borrowers. It pays for that with the lowest gearing at 65%, the shortest term at ten years, and the narrowest geography, with lending confined to prime London and the prime South of England. Coutts will go to 35 years interest-only and lend nationally but wants £1.5 million via a broker and the banking relationship. Investec will lend to 85% but requires UK residency, so the international client Butterfield writes for cannot get through Investec's door. Barclays Private Bank publishes a range to £10 million at 75% with terms to 35 years and will lend on overseas property, but expects a relationship worth £3 million in investments to follow. The full comparison is on our UK private bank mortgage lenders compared page, with the individual positions on our Coutts mortgages and Investec mortgages pages.

For the wider market, including the specialist lenders that sit between the high street and the private banks, see our guide to high net worth mortgages and the large mortgages hub.

Frequently asked questions

Rates and lender criteria are subject to change. Figures correct at time of publication. Always speak to your broker for up-to-date rates and lending criteria on your specific case.