Housing Minister Grant Shapps will today call on lenders to offer ‘mates mortgages’ to help young first-time buyers club together to take their first step onto the property ladder.
Shapps will tell lenders he wants them to make it easier for friends who jointly can afford repayments but are currently locked out of the market by the requirement for a large individual deposit.
The minister wants more lenders to offer straightforward mortgage products, such as Britannia’s ‘Share to Buy’, to facilitate joint ownership.
He will also urge lenders to replicate a new ‘First-Time Buyers Pledge’ by Lloyds. Under the pledge more advice and assistance will be available to prospective homeowners, including a personal action plan for unsuccessful applicants.
Shapps said: “If there are mates who are perfectly capable of paying monthly mortgage payments but are struggling to fund a deposit on their own, there should be straightforward options to unite with their friends and take the first step onto the housing ladder together.
“That’s why I have once again called on key figures from across the housing market to come together and discuss ways to improve the availability of mortgages, and how existing products can be promoted much better.
“I also want to discuss how the improved service being offered to first-time buyers by Lloyds can be replicated across the sector.
“Eight out of ten aspiring homeowners under 30 can’t get on the ladder without help from the Bank of Mum and Dad. So it is vital that every option to increase the availability of mortgages is pursued, so we don’t lock a generation of young people out of the housing market.”
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