IRST-TIME buyers desperate to get on the housing ladder are being offered a new mortgage that will lend up to five times their salary without a deposit.
But it will also mean giving the lender a share of any rise in the house’s value.
The UK’s biggest independent financial adviser*, The MarketPlace at Bradford & Bingley, has launched what it calls a ‘Step Ladder’ mortgage targeted at first-time buyers, key workers, divorcees and growing families looking for bigger homes.
However, the mortgage has a highly uncompetitive rate and seems to go against the spirit of regulatory calls for lenders not to stretch income multiples. And the history of so-called Shared Appreciation Mortgages (SAM) is a far from illustrious one.
This offer has sparked fears that vulnerable would-be houseowners may borrow above their limits and not realise that they have to forego much of the growth in the home’s value.
The MarketPlace will lend 100% of the house’s price, but you only pay interest on 70%. The catch is that it will take a percentage of the growth of the house’s value instead. This could prove costly given the massive rise in house prices seen in the past few years, particularly in London and the South East.
If the value of your new home grows by 2% a year, Mortgage Express – a subsidiary of Bradford & Bingley which is funding the mortgage – will take all of this. If your property grows by between 2% and 12% a year, Mortgage Express keeps 30% of this extra growth, leaving you with 70%.
If the value of the home increases more than 12% a year, you keep 100% of the gain above 12%.
If the house doesn’t rise in value, you are in effect getting an interest-free loan on 30% of your mortgage. But Mortgage
