"We’re becoming the go-to expat lender for many brokers, so we’re pleased to widen our criteria to other types of expat mortgages"
- Charlotte Grimshaw - Suffolk Building Society
Suffolk Building Society has announced that it has launched a new expat self-build and renovation proposition and strengthened its wider expat and foreign national lending criteria, including higher LTV limits.
The mutual has brought together two established lending areas to support expat borrowers looking to build their own home in the UK. Applications are subject to standard self-build criteria and require a UK-based project manager to oversee construction.
The new Expat Self Build & Renovation product launches with a two-year discount at 6.05% (SVR minus 1.69%). It is available up to £1m and up to 80% LTV for 24 months.
Alongside the launch, Suffolk has increased the maximum LTV for foreign nationals living in the UK to 90%, up from 80%, widening access for borrowers with smaller deposits.
The society has also made further changes across its expat proposition, including:
- acceptance of self-employed expats for buy-to-let and holiday let applications
- support for up to four applicants and four incomes across all expat cases, including residential, buy-to-let, holiday let and JBSP
- acceptance of gifted deposits on expat applications
- inclusion of Irish passport holders living outside the UK or Ireland
“Building a home in the UK while living overseas may be unusual, but it’s something brokers are increasingly asking us about,” said Charlotte Grimshaw, head of intermediaries at Suffolk Building Society (pictured). “With a professional project manager in place, we believe an expat-funded self-build can be just as successful as a self-build carried out by UK-based borrowers.
“We’re becoming the go-to expat lender for many brokers, so we’re pleased to widen our criteria to other types of expat mortgages,” she added. “The additional enhancements will further strengthen our expat offering and allow us to say yes to more cases, supporting brokers and their customers.
“We’ve been improving our expat lending credentials over the past few years, and this is a great set of new enhancements,” Grimshaw concluded. “People living abroad have very different circumstances and needs, therefore our products and criteria must genuinely reflect the diversity of these borrowers.”
