Rented Housing: Deposits

(asked on 18th February 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will explore initiatives with mortgage lenders to enable the removal of the requirement for substantial deposits for people and families that are renting.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 28th February 2022

The Government is committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. Hence, in April 2021, the Government launched the mortgage guarantee scheme to help to increase the supply of 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages, meaning that credit-worthy borrowers only require a 5% deposit. There are now over 300 95% LTV mortgage products on the market, making it easier for those who can afford mortgage repayments, but are unable to save a large deposit to get on the property ladder.

Moreover, the Government believes that a history of paying rent should be recognised in tenants’ credit scores and affordability assessments. In 2017, the Government announced the Rent Recognition Challenge: a £2 million competition challenging the UK’s world-leading tech firms to develop applications that enable tenants to record and share their rental payment data with lenders and credit reference agencies. The three winners of the challenge (CreditLadder, Bud and RentalStep) are now all using technology to verify and record tenants’ rental payments.

Reticulating Splines