Mortgage 'boost' for first time buyers

The new five per cent mortgage guarantee scheme - revealed in Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget – will be available to first-time buyers and current homeowners looking for a property worth up to £600,000.

In December, first-time buyers in Northumberland spent an average of £136,000 on a home, according to Land Registry figures.

A five per cent deposit on this would be £6,810 – and raising the 95% mortgage would require a household income of £35,940.

Office for National Statistics data reveals that the gross median salary of a full-time worker in the area was around £29.450 in 2020.

Richard Donnell, research director at UK property portal Zoopla, said supporting buyers with small deposits is key to widening access to home ownership.

He added: "Our analysis shows the scheme will have the greatest benefits for buyers in lower value housing markets in northern England and Scotland, where a 95% mortgage is more attainable.”

The scheme, available from April, will provide a guarantee to lenders across the UK who offer mortgages to people with a deposit of just five per cent.

But Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive dismissed the scheme as “pure window dressing.”

She said: "It won’t help most renters, two-thirds of whom have no savings at all, and there is no way they can scrape together the cash needed to afford a 5% deposit, nor do they have the kind of income that would support a huge mortgage."