"There’s a strong focus on supporting first-time buyers at the moment – and so there should be; they underpin our housing market"
- Charlotte Grimshaw - Suffolk Building Society
Suffolk Building Society has announced that it has reduced rates across its residential interest-only mortgage range by up to 16 basis points and introduced a new 90% loan-to-value discount mortgage aimed at buyers with smaller deposits.
Interest-only rate cuts, effective from today:
80% LTV two-year discount interest-only mortgage reduced by 15bps to 4.85%
80% LTV two-year fixed interest-only mortgage reduced by 16bps to 4.99% (until 31 August 2027)
80% LTV five-year fixed interest-only mortgage reduced by 16bps to 5.09%
The changes are part of a wider effort to support borrowers adjusting repayment types due to affordability pressures, as well as to cater to the Society’s later-life lending demographic.
New product launches
The newly launched 90% LTV product is a two-year discount mortgage available for both purchases and remortgages. It carries a rate of 4.95% and is available for loans up to £650,000.
“There’s a strong focus on supporting first-time buyers at the moment – and so there should be; they underpin our housing market,” said Charlotte Grimshaw (pictured), head of intermediaries at Suffolk Building Society. “However, interest-only borrowers, who often fall into the ‘later life’ group, have long been underserved – facing age restrictions and limited options.
“With our changes to repayment vehicles, we decided to close the rate differential between our capital and interest and our interest-only products, giving people more choice. This helps borrowers who are looking to borrow into retirement, people currently on interest-only terms, or those looking to migrate over to interest-only,” she explained.
“These rate reductions come on the back of the significant criteria change we made on Monday, increasing the maximum LTV from 50% to 70% when downsizing.”
