"We’ve developed our Family Step range to offer support for customers going through this process where the Bank of Mum and Dad or other family members can help "
Instead of a deposit, the Family Step range instead relies on family assistance through savings or property.
Heather Crinion, general manager of operations at Marsden Building Society, said: “There’s a growing appetite for customers wanting to get onto the property ladder, with a reduction in rental properties available in the buy-to-let market and increasing house prices the market demand is there.
"However, with the increasing property and rental prices, the challenge for first-time buyers to raise a deposit grows alongside it. We’ve developed our Family Step range to offer support for customers going through this process where the Bank of Mum and Dad or other family members can help support them using savings or property. This range builds on our existing lending solutions and strengthens our support for intermediaries and their first-time buyer clients.”
Danny Belton, head of lender relationships at Legal and General Mortgage Club, commented: "Whilst the number of first-time buyers continues to increase, saving up enough money for a deposit remains one of the largest challenges for borrowers. It is the same whether they are moving out of a parent’s home, or currently in rented accommodation where cost of renting has not allowed savings for a deposit, yet affordability meets the lenders requirements.
"It’s therefore great to see building societies, such as the Marsden Building Society, recognising these challenges and coming up with innovative solutions to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder."
