Which lenders have the best mortgage schemes to help first-time buyers get on to the property ladder?

Tags: First-time buyers, Residential mortgages

May 24 2025

Banks and building societies are constantly launching new schemes to help more first-time buyers get on the property ladder.

First-time buyer schemes are widely available across large and small mortgage lenders. Some options are good for borrowers with a larger deposit. Others help those who can get support from their parents. There are also low deposit choices for borrowers who need to stretch their income and even low-deposit mortgages for those with credit blips.

There are almost too many first-time buyer schemes to list, but here is our pick of the latest leading top eight:

1) Nationwide's Helping Hand income stretch mortgage

The most popular first-time buyer scheme is arguably Nationwide's Helping Hand income stretch mortgage, which helps borrowers access up to six times their salary to secure a mortgage.

Applicants will need to take a five—or ten-year fix, but the Helping Hand scheme has helped thousands of first-time buyers secure sufficiently large mortgages to get on the property ladder.

All applicants must be first-time buyers.
5 and 10-year fixed rates are available for borrowers, provided they have a 5% deposit.
Minimum qualifying income of £35,000 for sole applicants or £55,000 for joint applicants. You can include all income sources (except self-employed income).
Up to six times your salary mortgage, which is more generous than most other lenders.

2) Accord Mortgages £5k deposit

The Accord Mortgage £5k deposit scheme is a 1% deposit mortgage available to first-time buyers who provide a £5,000 deposit. The minimum loan size is £95,001, and the maximum is £495,000.

At least one applicant must be a first-time buyer (defined as never having owned a property in the past) and have no background properties on the application.
The maximum age allowable at the end of the term is 70.
Both applicants must have an indefinite right to reside in the UK.

3) Skipton's 100% Track Record Mortgage

Skipton for Intermediaries is offering a 100% Track Record Mortgage, providing a no-deposit mortgage for current renters who haven't owned a property in the last 3 years and can demonstrate a track record of affordability of all monthly rent for a minimum of 12 months in the last 18-month period.

After one year of helping renters into their homes, Skipton has made various improvements to the way we calculate affordability, which should help more customers step up on the property ladder. This means that in some circumstances, we will lend loans with monthly payments up to 120% of the rent the customer is currently paying.
The maximum term is 40 years.
Each client must not have owned a property in the UK in the last the years.
The maximum loan-to-income is 4.49 times salary or 4.75 times salary if the income is over £50,000.

4) NatWest's Family-Backed Mortgage

NatWest's new Family-Backed mortgage, sometimes known as a ‘joint borrower sole proprietor’ (JBSP) mortgage, can help buyers get onto the property ladder sooner or borrow more money. It lets borrowers add a second person to the mortgage, but without them owning the property.

Adding a second person to the mortgage as a 'non-owner', can help borrowers access larger mortgages than they would otherwise have been able to borrow, which means they could buy their own home sooner than they thought. And, the non-owner could be a family member or friend.

The non-owning borrower must seek independent legal advice before completion. An Independent Legal Advice Certificate will be sent to the non-owning borrower with the mortgage offer, seeking confirmation legal advice has been obtained.
Their future borrowing limits will be affected because the mortgage will show on their credit report and will be used in future affordability calculations.
Standard residential mortgage policy rules will apply to all applicants, including NatWest's eligibility criteria of a minimum age of 18 and a maximum age of 75.

5) Barclays Family Springboard Mortgage

This scheme has been available for years and, surprisingly, is not used as much as it should be.

Applicants can use a family or friend’s savings to buy a house with their own mortgage, and the person lending the money should* get their money back, with interest.

You can borrow the full purchase price of your home because your helper provides 10% as security for five years. The Barclays Family Springboard can provide a 100% loan-to-value mortgage.

The family member or friend can earn an "attractive" rate of interest on their savings for the agreed term.
The saver's money will only be returned provided the mortgage account is not in arrears.* The saver's money can also help more than one family member or friend get their own place at the same time.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7016 0790 to secure a first-time buyer mortgage, book a consultation, or complete our mortgage questionnaire.

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

Is it faster to get a mortgage through a broker or apply directly to a lender?

Getting a mortgage through a specialist broker like Trinity Financial is typically far quicker than visiting bank branches or applying to a bank over the phone.

We constantly speak to borrowers who have been to their bank or building society and sat through lengthy video consultations, only to be told they do not qualify or cannot borrow enough money. Many buyers also get fed up with waiting for the mortgage offer, especially when they get closer to their exchange date.

Trinity Financial's experts will assess the market to ensure you get the most competitively priced and suitable rate, depending on the size of your deposit, and then find a lender to provide you with the amount you need to buy a property or refinance.

In some cases, getting a mortgage offer on the same day an application is submitted is possible, especially for borrowers with straightforward financial situations. However, mortgage offers normally take between ten days and two weeks to be offered, depending on how busy the lender is and the complexity of the case.

A step by step guide to secure a large mortgage loans via Trinity

• You can contact one of our consultants by calling 020 7016 0790, or complete our basic enquiry form or mortgage questionnaire for a more detailed initial response.
• You tell us what you are looking for and the property type you want to buy. We assess your mortgage and financial protection needs based on your monthly budget.
• We collect the information and documentation that the lenders and providers need.
• Based on the information supplied, we provide you with illustrations of the most suitable products for your circumstances.
• We then apply on your behalf to secure a mortgage offer as quickly as possible. This is once you have confirmed you are happy to proceed.
• We manage the application through to completion and liaise with all involved parties, including valuers, estate agents, and solicitors.
• Post-completion, we are available for any questions. When you reach the end of your initial product, we can also discuss any further mortgage, will or financial protection product requirements.

As part of our ongoing service commitment, we will contact you at least five months prior to your fixed or tracker rate expiring to ensure you avoid reverting to an expensive standard variable rate.