Getting a mortgage with EU settled status.

Settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme and indefinite leave to remain (ILR) are formally different statuses — settled status was created specifically for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals under the post-Brexit arrangements, while ILR is the existing permanent residence route for non-EEA nationals. For practical mortgage purposes, however, most lenders treat them as equivalent: both grant an indefinite right to live and work in the UK with no time restriction, which is the factor lenders are principally concerned with.

This matters significantly compared to pre-settled status, which is time-limited and treated very differently by lenders. If you have been in the UK for five or more years and have not yet applied to convert your pre-settled status to settled status, that conversion is typically straightforward and materially improves your mortgage options.

Evidence is the main practical difference from ILR applications. ILR holders receive a biometric residence permit as physical evidence of their status; EU settled status does not have a physical equivalent and is instead confirmed via a share code generated through the government’s Home Office online service (accessible at view-immigration-status.service.gov.uk). Most lenders are now familiar with this process, and an adviser can guide you on how to present this correctly to the lender at the point of application.

The EU Settlement Scheme was open not only to EU nationals but also to nationals of Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein (EEA countries) and Switzerland, under separate bilateral agreements. All of these can hold settled or pre-settled status and are assessed by lenders in exactly the same way as EU nationals.

Irish citizens are in a slightly different position — under the Common Travel Area arrangements, Irish nationals have the right to live and work in the UK independently of the EUSS and are generally treated by lenders in the same way as British nationals. They did not need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, though some did so voluntarily.

If your situation involves income paid in a non-sterling currency alongside your settled status, see our guide on mortgages with foreign currency income — that is a separate consideration from immigration status and affects a different part of the lender assessment.