5% Deposit Mortgages

5% Deposit Mortgages are back

This is a scheme designed to increase the number of mortgage options available to homebuyers with a low deposit or limited equity and is running until mid-2025. Several major lenders are taking part in the Government's mortgage guarantee scheme, where want-to-be homeowners have access to 95% mortgages.

The 95% mortgage operates as any standard mortgage would for the buyer. As far as you are concerned, there is NO difference between a 95% mortgage offered through this scheme and a 95% mortgage offered outside this scheme.

For the mortgage lender however, the scheme guarantees that the Government will shoulder some of the cost if the lender loses money. For example, if the borrower fails to keep up with mortgage payments and the property is repossessed, but the subsequent property sale does not recoup the outstanding mortgage amount.

The scheme will run until mid-2025. The mortgage guarantee scheme is similar to the 5% Help to Buy government-backed mortgage scheme, which operated between 2013 and 2017. Participating lenders have to offer five-year fixed mortgages as part of their range of 95% LTV products.The scheme was initially launched because 95% mortgages became scarce during the coronavirus pandemic. It was designed to encourage lenders to re-enter the 95% market.

Which buyers can take part in the scheme?

Since launching in 2021, more than 41,000 homebuyers have used these Government-backed mortgages to get on to (or move further up) the property ladder. Any buyer with a small deposit can apply for one. They are NOT restricted to first-time buyers, but can be used by anybody buying a main home, including previous homeowners and home movers.

In brief, here is the general eligibility criteria:

You must be buying a main residential home in the UK. So these mortgages can't be used for second homes or buy-to-let properties.
The property must be worth £600,000 or less. You won't be able to apply if the property costs in excess of this.
The property can't be a new-build. Participating lenders are not allowing these mortgages to be used to buy new-build properties (specific restrictions might vary by lender). This is because lenders tend to worry that new-build properties will struggle to retain their value – something that would be a problem for the lender if your property had to be repossessed in future.
You must have a deposit equivalent to between 5% and 9% of the property's purchase price. That means you'll have a mortgage LTV between 91% and 95%.
You must apply for a repayment mortgage. This means that you won't be able to apply for an interest-only mortgage.
You'll need to pass a lender's normal mortgage affordability criteria.

5% Deposit Mortgages are back

Which buyers can take part in the scheme?

You might also be interested in