Skipton International has revealed the finding from its annual expat equity report.

It found that British expatriates working in Switzerland would most likely opt to purchase property in London and the South East over that in the north of England, whilst the north was a more popular location for those looking for buy-to-let investments from the Middle East.

Residents in Singapore and Qatar were significantly more interested in buy-to-let property in Scotland than other expatriate communities. While 69% of enquiries from those living in North America were searching for property to let in London or the South East.

Skipton collated the report from over 2,700 enquiries for their expat mortgage products, which were received from British expats across the globe and resident in the countries from which Skipton will support expat mortgage applications.

Nigel Pascoe (pictured), director of business development at Skipton International, said: “These figures are interesting when analysing the appetite of the expat market. There has not been a huge shift in those jurisdictions looking to invest in UK buy-to-let property, with the highest number of enquiries originating from the Middle East, but it is interesting to see the correlation between these jurisdictions and where they are looking to buy.

“Expanding our offering to cover buy-to-let properties in Scotland this year has allowed us to cater to the needs of more UK expatriates, as many will look to buy in areas where they are familiar and perhaps used to live.

“We also recently included a standard conveyance in our application fee, in addition to a free valuation, improving our market leading turn around times and adding more value to our customers. These additions have really strengthened our proposition.”