Helping you say “yes” to first time buyers
Putting affordability centre stage
In December, we launched our new First Time Buyer range, featuring Income Plus, specifically designed to help you get your clients onto the property ladder, with lending up to 95% Loan to Value (LTV).
Income Plus products are supported by our enhanced, but responsible, affordability model that features several improved elements. With a Loan to Income (LTI) of up to 5.5, your clients with a minimum £40,000 household income may be able to borrow £66k more* on average without the need to save a larger deposit.
It’s another way we can help you say "yes" to more first time buyers.
Discover our first time buyer mortgages
In addition to our first time buyer mortgage range, we’re helping your clients on the ladder with our diverse range of first time buyer focused products, such as:
1. Experian Boost
Your clients’ credit scores are vital to their journey when looking to purchase their first home and can often be a point of worry. To overcome this barrier to home ownership, we partnered with Experian Boost, an initiative which allows borrowers to potentially boost their credit scores. Experian Boost takes into account your clients’ day-to-day payments in order to temporarily boost their credit score, such as:
- Monthly Council Tax bills.
- Digital entertainment payments, i.e., Spotify and Netflix subscriptions.
2. High LTV fixed rate products
Our high LTV fixed rate products mean buyers can secure a mortgage using a smaller deposit, including up to 95% LTV on our residential mortgage range. This makes it easier for your clients to get their foot in the door. Last year we also raised our LTV levels, introducing the following new LTV bands:
New build
• New cases for standard residential new build houses for Max LTV increased from 90% to 95%
• New cases for standard residential new build flats Max LTV increased from 80% to 85% Standard
• New cases for standard residential non-new build flats Max LTV increased from 80% to 95%
Standard
• New cases for standard residential non-new build flats Max LTV increased from 80% to 95%
3. Reach Mortgages
Our Reach Mortgages are another great option for first time buyers, creating options for buyers whose credit scores mean they don’t qualify for one of our standard mortgage products. Putting home ownership within ‘Reach’ of more people, generation after generation.
Read our Reach Mortgages information sheet to find out more.
4. Our shared ownership range
We’re the market leading shared ownership lender. In fact, we’ve won What Mortgage’s ‘Best Shared Ownership Mortgage Lender’ for nine consecutive years! We even offer a special savings account just for Leeds Building Society shared ownership mortgage holders, to help them save towards staircasing.
Processes that work for you
We’re proud to say that we offer fast app to offer times, and we’ve invested in our processes for brokers, including:
• Launching our new and improved first time buyer affordability calculator
• Improving criteria search
• Offering enhanced affordability
Support and contact options that suit you
Whether it’s in person, over the phone, or our live broker webchat. We know you’re busy, so we provide a range of contact options, all staffed by our knowledgeable team to allow you to get the support that works for you. Discover all our contact options here.
Taking action on the big issues
Whether it’s influencing housing policy through the government, or piloting restrictions on holiday lets, we know that advocating for first time buyers goes beyond just offering the right products and services. We will continue to fight for a better future for the first time buyer market.
Tools to help you support first time buyers
We have updated our broker First Time Buyer Guide to help you support your first time buyer clients achieve home ownership.
With decades of experience, we can guide you and your clients every step of the way…helping you say yes to more first time buyers.
*Calculations based on assessment of Leeds Building Society applications between March 2024 and August 2024 which meet Income Plus criteria. The £66,000 figure is the average increase in maximum loan size when comparing Income Plus with standard residential products.