In our last first-time buyer mortgage article, we predicted that the best first-time buyer mortgage deals might be on the horizon. However, we didn’t expect to be so close to that horizon.
Only weeks after publishing the piece, it was announced that first-time buyers now have access to first-time buyer mortgages that lend up to six times salary. Six times! That’s an astonishing multiple, and it’s one that is undoubtedly going to unlock the doors (figuratively and literally) for those looking to get their feet firmly on the property ladder.
Let’s face it, it’s been a rough ride for those looking to start out on their property journey – and 2023 was a particularly a difficult year. Against the backdrop of increasing mortgage rates and a widely publicised cost-of-living crisis, first-time buyers saw their own dreams of property ownership drift further towards the horizon.
In fact, according to research carried out by Yorkshire Building Society towards the end of last year, a staggering 78 per cent of 500 first time buyers surveyed claimed that homeownership is becoming an elite privilege. Not a great sentiment, and certainly not one that the UK’s new government is likely to want to be associated with.
Back to 6x salary mortgages, then, and how they might help new entrants to the housing market.
What is a 6x salary mortgage?
We’ll start with being open and honest by saying that, as a Maidenhead mortgage broker, we were slightly taken aback when the 6x salary mortgage (or 6x income mortgage) was announced – after all, it’s giving first time buyers the opportunity to borrow 33 per cent more than they could prior to the product launch.
It’s no bad thing, though. Especially when you consider that 61 per cent of respondents in the same survey think that the UK is in danger of becoming a nation of renters in five years*.
A 6x salary mortgage is simply a mortgage that enables first time buyers to borrow six times their income – either individually or jointly with a partner. However, it’s important to note the following three criteria:
- Applicants must have a deposit equivalent to five per cent of the purchase price
- It only covers five and 10-year fixed rate mortgages
- The product does not take into account self-employed income
How do I apply for a 6x income mortgage?
As a first-time buyer mortgage specialist in Berkshire, we would recommend that you get in touch with our team of Maidenhead mortgage advisers, all of whom have access to this new and potentially ground-breaking mortgage deal.
Given the additional borrowing capacity afforded by this new product, we expect demand to be high as first-time buyers that have been priced out of the market suddenly have more purchasing power. As a result, we’d recommend that if you are a first-time buyer and you’re ready to buy a property, then contact our team as soon as possible.
Homeownership should be accessible and available to all, so we welcome the 6x salary mortgage with open arms. And, as 37 per cent of first-time buyers* were still aiming to buy their own place in the year following the survey’s findings, we expect a huge swathe of the UK population will welcome it, too.
Are you a first-time buyer? To apply for the 6x salary mortgage, contact our team of Maidenhead mortgage brokers on 01628 560820 or by emailing enquiries@altonmortgages.co.uk.