Suffolk Building Society has made three changes to its lending criteria to provide greater flexibility when making lending decisions for borrowers.

The changes are as follows:

Five new currencies accepted: 

Applications for residential, expat residential, and regulated buy-to-let products will now be accepted where the applicant is paid in: Saudi Riyal, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Swedish Krona and Danish Krone.

These five new currencies join the Euro, Swiss Franc, Norwegian Krone, US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Singapore Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, UAE Dirham, Kuwaiti Dinar and Qatari Riyal, as acceptable in these lending areas.

 There are no currency restrictions for buy-to-let or holiday let (standard and expat).

Non-court-ordered child maintenance:

The Society will also adapt how it views the child maintenance arrangements which parents agree on, outside of the court system. Many lenders will only take child maintenance into consideration where a formal agreement is in place, such as a court order or CMS (Child Maintenance Service) arrangement. Suffolk Building Society will now accept maintenance payments that parents arrange themselves (often called a family-based arrangement or FBA) that can be evidenced via 12 months of bank statements.

Maximum storeys for flats increased to seven:

The mutual will permit lending on blocks with a maximum height of seven storeys (previously five). The Suffolk says it recognises that purchasing a flat is the best option for many first-time buyers and town and city dwellers, so it has relaxed its criteria. (Consideration will also be given up to 10 storeys for Shared Ownership applications.)

Charlotte Grimshaw (pictured), Suffolk Building Society’s head of mortgages, said: “These criteria enhancements come off the back of a whole raft of new products we’ve already introduced this year. It’s terrific to be able to listen to our brokers and respond where we can, to make lending available to a wider range of clients.

“Adding these currencies, and in particular the Saudi Riyal and Australian Dollar, strengthens our expat proposition even further.”