The mutual’s 85% LTV offering will initially comprise six products: three standard buy-to-let (BTL) and three expat BTL mortgages.
Charlotte Grimshaw, head of intermediaries at Suffolk Building Society, said: “We hope this move will appeal to first-time landlords who may be struggling to save a larger deposit, despite having identified a property with strong rental potential.
“Equally, we expect interest from existing landlords looking to remortgage to release capital to purchase another property, fund renovations, support those who’ve inherited property or cover energy-efficiency improvements.”
Both ranges include two-year fixed and discounted rate options, as well as a five-year fixed rate product.
Landlords must demonstrate sufficient rental income to meet Suffolk’s standard interest coverage ratio (ICR) requirements –125% for nil and basic rate taxpayers and 145% for higher and additional-rate taxpayers.
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Suffolk’s recently introduced top-slicing option, which lets landlords use surplus disposable income to cover rental shortfalls and meet ICR requirements, will also be available on the 85% LTV BTL products, alongside joint borrower sole proprietor arrangements.
Grimshaw added that lending at 85% LTV carried responsibilities for the mutual, which its manual underwriting approach will be well placed to address.
She continued: “We’re hugely committed to the buy-to-let market and hope that the steady stream of improvements and flexibility that we’ve introduced over recent weeks demonstrates our determination to support an even greater number of landlords and builds on our current proposition.”
