Member Article

Helping tenants break free from generation rent

A North East housing provider has teamed up with a building society to help more renters to get onto the property ladder.

A new initiative with Mansfield Building Society has strengthened Prince Bishops Homes’ innovative Rent to Buy model, with the mortgage lender becoming the first to allow any increased value of a rented home over the period of tenancy, to be used as part of a purchase deposit.

As well as providing flexible housing solutions to meet the needs of first and second time buyers, Prince Bishops Homes ‘Moving on up Scheme’, allows people to rent their home for four years, with the option to then buy it. The developer shares any increase in the value of the property over those four years 50% / 50%, providing the buyer with additional funds to be used towards a mortgage deposit.

Previously, most lenders stipulated that customers would need to have saved a minimum of a 5% mortgage deposit – not including these funds - by themselves, to demonstrate their ability to budget and in turn, prove they would be able to manage the monthly mortgage payments.

Moya Jones, Sales and Marketing Director at Prince Bishops Homes, explains: “Not everyone is in a position to rent at full market value whilst at the same save towards their own mortgage deposit. After discussions with a number of lenders, Mansfield Building Society has become the first to confirm that, should the incentive given by Prince Bishops Homes equal the 5% deposit requirement, they can offer a special mortgage product to allow the purchaser to proceed using these funds alone - subject to them meeting the qualifying requirements of course.

“This means that we can focus on helping our customers in becoming mortgage ready. With support from specialist Financial Advisor Colin Barwick of Foster Denovo, we try to help tenants to develop good financial management skills and to be aware of their credit score. By building sound financial awareness, we can enable people to break free from generation rent.”

Stephen Walton, National Business Development Manager with Mansfield Building Society, said: “Mortgages for those with fully gifted deposits are not usually available. However, what Prince Bishops Homes is doing here is not a standard approach and we are delighted to be able to support it. After renting a home for four years, most people will understand the cost of running it and will already have the furniture and accessories within – meaning they will not have the associated costs of moving into a new property to outlay.

“It could be argued that there is less financial risk to a lender with buyers using this scheme than that associated with first time buyers, who move directly into to home ownership after living with parents. These renters will be more familiar with the day to day outgoings and responsibilities of managing a household.”

Prince Bishops Homes has funding to build over 1000 homes in the North over the next four years with profits all going back into supporting affordable housing on local schemes. Its model supports first time buyers who cannot immediately get access to home ownership through the Government’s Help to Buy equity loan scheme or the planned Starter Homes Initiative – often because they have no mortgage deposit, a low credit score, a lack of permanent employment, or they are self-employed.

As well as working hard to remove the major obstacles many face when trying to access mortgage funds, Prince Bishops Homes is actively championing North East business, supporting and partnering with local suppliers and organisations, whilst also creating jobs and training opportunities.

Moya added: “We are lucky to work with business partners such as Foster Denovo, who understand the mortgage markets and the barriers to home ownership that many renters face. Developing relationships directly with mortgage lenders such as Mansfield Building Society, helps us to tackle many of the major problems affecting the local housing market head on.”

For more information about Prince Bishops Homes, where the developer is building and the ‘Moving on up’ scheme, visit the Prince Bishops Homes website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .