It makes several product and criteria changes
Suffolk Building Society has announced a series of product and criteria changes to help brokers place more complex cases for their landlord and expat clients.
The mutual said it will accept applications from first-time buyer expat landlords, who are working and residing abroad and who have not owned a property before but who wish to purchase a rental property in the UK now.
The building society will no longer require returning expats to spend a set amount of time in the UK before applying for a mortgage. This change applies to both employed and retired applicants.
Non-UK nationals will also be accepted on a joint application, where one applicant is a UK national. This means that the non-UK partner can now be named on the mortgage. However, affordability will be based solely on the UK national applicant’s income only, and they will be required to meet all relevant criteria.
As well as accepting first-time buyer expat landlords, Suffolk will now consider applications of first-time buyers for buy-to-let properties in England and Wales. Full buy-to-let criteria will be applied including interest cover ratio and minimum income, among others. The lender will also run a background affordability assessment.
Landlords wishing to purchase or remortgage their own residential property will now be considered, regardless of how many buy-to-let properties they have in the background, as long as the buy-to-let portfolio is self-financing. Previously, the Society had a limit of 10 buy-to-lets in the background, but that criterion has now been removed.
“We know our niches extremely well and have a very good understanding of the issues facing brokers in these markets at the moment,” Charlotte Grimshaw (pictured), head of intermediary relations at Suffolk Building Society, said. “It matters to us that we’re there to support those whose circumstances mean they need a specialist lender on their side – particularly as everyone faces the uncertainty of the current economic climate.”
Last month, Suffolk launched a new five-year fixed expat buy-to-let product for energy efficient properties. The mutual also recently reported strong financial results for 2022, achieving sustained growth in its mortgage book, savings balances, and profits.
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