Mortgage to help new house buyers

Renters who lack savings or financial support from their family can potentially make the jump on to the housing ladder with a new zero-deposit mortgage.

Skipton Building Society’s new ‘track record’ mortgage could give a helping hand to people with a strong history of paying their rent but who have been only able to save a little or nothing for a deposit to buy their first home.

The deal is available for first-time buyers across Britain. Tenants aged 21 and over may be able to take out mortgages at between 95 per cent to 100 per cent of the value of the property they want to buy.

In return, they will need to demonstrate a strong track record of paying their rent, with evidence of a minimum of 12 months of rental history.

Experts said the new deal could help some aspiring homeowners to ‘get off the rental treadmill’, although some said that affordable housing remains in short supply.

Rachel Springall, a finance expert at financial information website Moneyfacts, said: ‘It is great to see more support for first-time buyers who are struggling to afford a deposit for a mortgage. There are very few 100 per cent LTV mortgages in the market, but even if we were to see more innovative deals surface, affordable housing is very much in short supply, and there need tobesignificantchangestothe market to turn this around.’

The fee-free mortgage is a five-year-fixed-rate product with a rate of 5.49% and the maximum mortgage term is 35 years. Across Britain, the average asking price for a firsttime buyer-type property is a record of £224,963, according to Rightmove.