Issue 01 · The House

01 / 35 · Practice · Expats

The house you buy from another airport.

Gatehouse will house UK expats and international residents in England and Wales. Occupancy, tax residency, and whether anyone actually lives there are different questions from the rate cut in June.

The Mizan desk · 7 September 2026 · 8 min

Closed passport and house keys in a tray

Gatehouse’s home-finance page is unusually honest about who it will talk to: UK residents, UK expats, international residents, buying or refinancing in England and Wales. In June 2026 it cut rental rates on selected two-year products for expats and internationals, and put limited-edition HPP and BTL in the window for UK residents. Distribution news. Not a fatwa on living in Doha and owning in Ealing.

A house you never sleep in is a second dwelling with better lighting.

Occupancy is the worship

If you will live in the house, you are in the home book — with all the life-cover, buildings-cover, and occupation clauses that book carries. If you will let it, you are in buy-to-let, which is a different riba-and-bricks problem, a different surcharge, and a different zakat later. Currency risk on a sterling rent when your salary is dirhams is not a Shariah board’s job, but it will still empty the account.

Tax residency, SDLT or LTT, and whether you are replacing a main residence are solicitor questions. The airport tray is not a completion file.