Suffolk Building Society has cut rates on its expat mortgages by up to 55bps. 

The largest reductions are on its interest-only option, with its two-year fix now charging  6.44%, down from 5.89%. This product has a maximum loan of £500,000 and has a £199 application fee and further £999 completion fee. 

Suffolk BS has also reduced the cost of its other two-year fixed-rate options in this expat range. Its standard repayment product is now priced at 5.59% (previously 6.09%). This has a £199 application fee and £999 completion fee, with a maximum loan of £1m. 

It also offers a two-year fixed-rate repayment option, up to £2m. This is now priced at 5.59%. This has the same £199 application fee, but the completion fee is 0.1% of the loan amount

All three products are available up to 80% LTV and allow overpayments of up to 50% of the original loan amount.

These rate cuts follow the decision by Suffolk BS earlier this week to accept five new currencies for expat residential products. 

The building society has also made changes to its buy-to-let range, adding a new product with a lower rate but higher 3% completion fee. It says this will help landlords increase their maximum available loan when using the stressed interest coverage ratio (ICR).

These new BTL options include:

• BTL two-year fix at 4.79%.
• Expat BTL two-year fix at 5.29%.

Both BTL products have an application fee of £199 alongside the 3% completion fee. Again these are available up to 80%LTV with overpayments permitted up to 50% of original loan amount. The maximum loan size is £1m.

Suffolk building society head of mortgages Charlotte Grimshaw says: “While mortgage rates remain higher than previous years, we understand that achieving their desired loan amount has become an issue for many BTL landlords. 

“By offering a lower initial rate, with a higher fee, we’re providing an alternative option for those landlords who might prefer to pay a higher fee for a lower monthly mortgage payment.”