Suffolk Building Society (BS) has expanded its criteria to help support British expats living overseas, including allowing them to get a mortgage to self-build a home in the UK, and allowing self-employed expats to get a buy-to-let or holiday let mortgage.
The BS will now let expat borrowers build their own property subject to its usual self-build criteria and the appointment of a UK-based project manager to oversee the build. The mortgage is offered at a 2-year discounted interest rate of 6.05% for loans of up to £1m, with an 80% loan-to-value.
Self-employed expats will be accepted across the firm’s buy to let and holiday let ranges, and the BS will also accept up to four applicants (four incomes) on all expat mortgages, excluding self-builds.
Paul Blaking, direct mortgages manager at Suffolk BS, continued: “We’ve been improving our expat lending credentials over the past few years as there is no single ‘type’ of British or foreign national. People living abroad have very different circumstances and property needs, therefore our products and criteria must genuinely reflect the diversity of these borrowers.
“We hope that these changes give UK nationals living abroad, and indeed overseas nationals settling here, a better chance to establish or retain a foothold in the UK property market.”
