Does anyone have experience of getting a mortgage in the Czech Republic? How easy/difficult is this to do? I assume that if you have a substantial mortage on your own home in the UK, as I do, then it would be pretty much impossible to obtain a mortgage in the Czech Republic to buy a property in Prague? Do any mortgage products in the Czech Republic look at potential rental income, rather than on salary/affordability?

I am in process of applying for one right now. It is repayment - apparently there are interest only ones but at a ridiculous rate of 8 or 9%. There is no such thing as a buy to let mtg at the moment, so it is simply based on your income and outgoings as a standard mtg in uk. I don't have my own property in UK in which i live( i do have a buy to let though) and my loan for the czech apt will only be around 60k, so I am confident that i will be accepted. They require id- passport,copy of crdeit report- experian or Equifax, wage slips, bank stmts showing wages going in to the account, employment status- letter from employer- the bank i am getting mine from is Raiffisen Bank- it was previously a requirement that you had to have been employed with current employer for at least 12 months, but Raiffeisen have just changed this to 6 months. My mtg broker is Hyposervis; I see in the Old Brewery brochure that they also recommend Star Capital Finance. Also I undertsand that proper interest only or buy to let mtgs may become available by the end of the year as market matures.

Also, the banks claim to lend 100% LTV- however in my case that is their valuation- not market value. I have already paid 15% deposit with 85% to pay on completion. The bank valued my apt at the same figure as the remaining 85% ie 85% of the Purchase price and they are claiming to be offering me a 100%LTV. Depending upon your circumstances you may not be able to get what they call a 100% LTV; so you may end up getting 85% LTV of their valuation which is in effect 0.85x 0.85= 72.25% of the purchase price

John, I can't usefully comment on your situation as I don't have a very large UK mortgage. I suggest you call Hana at SCF and talk to her to see what type of product you would qualify for. I used SCF and they found me a mortgage with Hypotechni bank: 85% LTV (where 'value' was apparently the same as the PS discounted price from three years ago) and got a 4.1% fixed rate for one year.

Peter - is this in respect of the Old Brewery deal or another deal? I am wondering how long the process takes to get a mortgage offer with a Czech Bank. Could you let me know your experience of this. thanks

This was for the Repy deal. I applied for the mortgage in Nov 2006 and I got the confirmed offer at the end of Jan 2007. Note that the fixed rate started on the date of the offer (not on date the mortgage starts). Also, since signing the mortgage contract there has been a big delay getting the contract of bailment from Hypotecni bank (over a month so far) which is an unexpected delay. I'm not sure that either figures are very representative. If you have any joy with the search function on these forums you may be able to find a posting by Mike Appleby. He used SCFinance and Hypotecni too but got his mortgage offer very very quickly indeed if I remember correctly. Probably best to budget 2-3 months to be sure.

John, Have you been successful yet with your mortgage application? FYI I organised 2 Czech mortgages at the same time through Hana at Star Capital - one at 100% for Kosik (primary residence) and the other for 90% for Nove Medlanky. The whole process took about 2 months. As pointed out by others the LTV is based on the bank's valuation and not the market value although in my case the 100% was effectively 97% of cost and the 90% was effectively 85% of cost. I have a substantial mortgage at home here but was still successful. With regard to your final question - I believe the application was based on salary/affordability rather than on rent etc. as in the buy-to-let situation. Also, the offer terms varied slightly. In each case the mortgage is over 30 years and the rate fixed for 3 years. The rate is 4.76% for Kosik and 4.41% for Medlanky. Hope this helps

Does anyone know how feasible (or advisable) it might be to raise a mortgage on a property in CEE country A, and then go on to raise another mortgage on another property in country B, without informing them of the other mortgage? e.g. get a mortgage in Poland, and then apply for another one in the Czech Republic without telling them about the Polish mortgage. Will all mortgages, UK and foreign, appear on your credit report?

I have a Polish mortgage and it doesn't appear on my UK credit report. Of course, I couldn't condone such behaviour as not reporting all your financial commitments when applying for a mortgage. However, if you were to follow that route, it would appear to be an effective way to increase your borrowing capacity..