Private bank mortgages

Private banks are a core source of high net worth mortgage lending in the United Kingdom, particularly for large mortgage loans, complex income, and internationally connected borrowers. Private bank mortgages are individually underwritten, and terms are negotiated case by case rather than drawn from a fixed product range.

Some private banks require the borrower to place assets under management (AUM) with the bank as a condition of lending, while others lend on a “dry” basis with no AUM requirement. The presence or absence of an AUM condition, and its size, materially affects the true cost of the mortgage and should be compared alongside the headline rate.

Private banks can also offer features rarely available on the high street, such as lending against investment portfolios (Lombard or securities-backed lending), multi-currency facilities, and flexible treatment of bonus, carried interest, or trust income. A high net worth mortgage broker with private bank relationships can present a case to multiple banks and negotiate terms on the borrower’s behalf.