UK Investor Visa Comeback Gains Ground as Healey Weighs £5M Route

A UK investor visa could be back on the table, with Chancellor John Healey weighing a new residency route for wealthy foreigners in his first Budget on 28 October. Britain shut its old investor route four years ago, and it’s spent most of the time since watching rich residents leave.

LONDON, United Kingdom – 19 October 2026

Bloomberg reported on 16 October that the Treasury is looking at a path similar to the scrapped Tier 1 investor visa, citing people familiar with the talks. The Home Office declined to comment. Nothing’s been confirmed, and the final design could still change or vanish before Budget day.

Three blueprints are already circulating in Westminster. They differ a lot on price, tax treatment and who gets in.

What is Healey considering for a new UK investor visa?

Healey is reportedly weighing a residency route for wealthy foreigners modelled on the old Tier 1 investor visa, to be announced in the 28 October 2026 Budget. Bloomberg’s report says the aim is growth. No threshold, cap or tax treatment has been confirmed, and the Home Office hasn’t commented.

The idea isn’t new. In May, the government’s Office for Investment was reported to be consulting on an invitation-only UK £5 million investor visa. What’s changed is the venue. A Budget mention would put the idea on the government’s own agenda for the first time since 2022.

Why now? The UK replaced its non-dom regime in April 2025 with a four-year foreign income window and residence-based inheritance tax. Since then, our inbox has filled with UK-based clients asking about second residency programs in Dubai, Italy and Monaco. Several have already gone, much like the Reuben family’s quiet move to Monaco. A government that’s losing that money has an obvious reason to court replacements.

Why did the Tier 1 investor visa close?

The Tier 1 investor visa closed at 4pm on 17 February 2022 because the government judged its economic benefit small and its money-laundering risk high. The Home Office explanatory memorandum says few investments counted as genuine foreign direct investment, even after the minimum rose from £1 million to £2 million.

That history matters for any Tier 1 investor visa replacement. Every serious proposal now leads with tougher source-of-funds checks, sector-specific investment and limits on high-risk nationalities. Expect the new paperwork to be heavier than the old.

How much would the UK investor visa cost under each proposal?

A revived UK investor visa would likely cost between £2.5 million and £5 million, depending on which design wins. The Foreign Investors for Britain plan asks for £2.5 million plus a £200,000 annual flat tax. The IPPR’s British Business Investment Visa asks for £5 million in stages, invested at below-market returns.

The IPPR proposal would cap grants at 100 to 150 main applicants a year and ban Russian applicants outright. It estimates the scheme could add up to £900 million to the economy and support about 4,000 jobs. Money would flow through a vehicle overseen by the state-owned British Business Bank.

The FIFB version is the one wealthy families will actually like. Knight Frank’s write-up of the plan puts its inflow estimate at £225 billion over a decade. Read that number twice. It’s a lobby group’s figure, and it assumes thousands of applicants that the Home Office has never shown any appetite for.

Who would a new UK investor visa actually suit?

A new UK investor visa would mainly suit wealthy non-UK nationals who want London as a base and can park £2.5 million to £5 million for five years or more. It would do far less for anyone chasing low taxes, because worldwide income and long-term inheritance tax exposure still apply after the four-year window ends.

This is where people get burned. We’ve had clients buy into a residency programme for the lifestyle and only later discover the tax residency that comes with it. The UK’s 183-day and ties-based rules decide where you’re taxed, and that question deserves its own planning before you file anything. Our guide to being a resident of two countries covers how that overlap works.

For comparison, European investor routes are cheaper but tightening. Greece just reported a 25% fall in golden visa applications. If an EU passport is the real goal, citizenship by investment options outside Europe often get you visa-free Schengen travel for less money and less paperwork than a London residency card.

What happens next with the Healey Budget investor visa?

Nothing changes until Healey stands up on 28 October. Even then, a Budget announcement would likely signal intent, with immigration rules and Home Office guidance following months later. The old Tier 1 route took years to design, and the politics around immigration numbers haven’t got any easier.

Bottom line: a UK investor visa looks more likely now than at any point since 2022, but it’s still a headline. Keep checking the United Kingdom section, because we’ll update the moment the Treasury publishes the detail.

UK Investor Visa FAQ