About Us
About Gerard Ward – Founder, Premier Expat Mortgages
With over two decades of experience spanning UK property finance, international lending, and securities-backed debt, Gerard Ward founded Premier Expat Mortgages in 2008 to give British expats and internationally mobile clients genuine, whole-of-market access to UK mortgage finance – something mainstream high street banks have never been properly built to provide.
Gerard holds the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP), the professional benchmark for UK mortgage advisers, alongside qualifications from the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). This combination gives him a genuinely different perspective to most brokers – rather than focusing purely on the mortgage product itself, Gerard looks at the full financial picture behind an application, ensuring every case is built on properly understood foundations before it ever reaches a lender.
His career has spanned three continents. Having worked extensively in Hong Kong, Gerard holds qualifications in Securities and Futures Regulation from the Hong Kong Securities Institute, giving him genuine firsthand experience of international capital markets and cross-border financial structures. This global perspective sits at the heart of how Premier Expat Mortgages operates today, particularly when arranging finance for clients with foreign currency income, overseas employment contracts, or genuinely complex international circumstances.
Why We Started Premier Expat Mortgages
When Gerard began working with British expats seeking UK mortgages, a clear pattern emerged: mainstream lenders and generalist brokers simply weren’t built to properly understand foreign currency income, overseas credit history, or the genuine complexity of arranging a UK mortgage from thousands of miles away. Premier Expat Mortgages was founded specifically to close that gap – combining whole-of-market access with genuine expertise in the specific challenges expat and international clients face.
Where We Are Today
Since 2008, we’ve grown into a genuinely established presence across multiple markets, with offices in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur, reflecting the communities of British expats and international clients we serve most closely.
United Kingdom
Railway House, Irlam Road, Urmston, Manchester, M41 6NA
Hong Kong
5 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, SAR
Kuala Lumpur
Level 16, Pavilion Tower, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, 50200
We’re currently progressing our own direct FCA authorisation, and in the meantime continue to arrange mortgage and finance solutions for clients both overseas and here in the UK.
What We Arrange
Premier Expat Mortgages works with individuals, families, and property investors across the UK and internationally to arrange:
- Expat Mortgages – residential, buy-to-let, and specialist mortgages for British expats and non-UK residents purchasing or refinancing UK property
- UK Mortgages – residential, commercial, bridging, and development finance for UK-based homeowners, landlords, and investors
- Bridging Finance – fast, short-term property finance for auctions, chain-breaks, and time-sensitive purchases
- Development Finance – senior debt, mezzanine, and stretched senior facilities for property developers
- Securities Lending – borrowing against stock portfolios, cryptocurrency, and other investment holdings without needing to sell
- Insurance and Protection – life insurance, critical illness cover, and income protection tailored to both UK-based and internationally mobile clients
- Expat Pension Planning – introductions to regulated pension advice for clients navigating UK pensions from overseas
Every case is assessed on its own merits – your income, your circumstances, and your objectives. Through our whole-of-market access to over 250 lenders, including high street banks, offshore lenders, and private banks, we identify genuinely suitable options rather than fitting you into a single lender’s rigid criteria.
Genuinely Global, Genuinely Personal
With team members based both in the UK and overseas, we understand what it actually means to arrange a UK mortgage while living in a different time zone, earning in a different currency, and navigating rules that weren’t designed with your situation in mind. This isn’t theoretical for us – it’s the specific problem Premier Expat Mortgages was built to solve.
Get in Touch
Whether you’re a British expat looking to buy or refinance UK property, a UK-based homeowner or investor exploring your options, or facing a genuinely complex financial situation other brokers have struggled to place, we’d be happy to discuss how we can help. Get in touch with our team today.
