Suffolk Building Society has announced it will allow multi-currency applications on residential, buy-to-let (BTL) and holiday let cases.
The mutual will now accept any currency as an income type for BTL and holiday let cases, except for select high-risk countries. For residential and regulated BTL applications, Suffolk Building Society will allow applicants receiving an income from a list of 16 currencies.
The mutual will convert foreign currency incomes into sterling and apply a 20% haircut to allow for the change in exchange rate, before applying its standard affordability calculations.
This change was made in response to broker feedback and will be available to all borrowers, not just expats. This will also be possible for joint borrower sole proprietors (JBSPs), which the mutual made possible across more of its range earlier this month.
Charlotte Grimshaw, head of intermediary relations and mortgage sales at Suffolk Building Society, said: “We’re so pleased to offer this mix-and-match flexibility on currencies, as we know that many brokers have clients with this need. We know that income is not just earned in the currency of an applicant’s current location: pensions, rental income, investments, and other income-generating assets could all come from sources outside of their current country of residence.
“With this update, we are ensuring our lending keeps pace with the different ways people are living and earning.”
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