Skipton Building Society – one of Britain’s biggest mutual lenders – has cut mortgage rates in a bid to give hope to thousands of first-time buyers frozen out of the housing market.
The building society, which has more than a million customers and 1,300 branches, has cut interest on its 100% no-deposit “Track Record” mortgage to its lowest level since launch – potentially saving homeowners more than £50 a month on a typical £200,000 loan.
That adds up to over £600 a year in savings – a lifeline for renters trying to step onto the housing ladder during a cost of living crisis.
The firm says the Track Record mortgage, introduced in May 2023, allows renters with a solid history of making payments to buy their first home without needing a deposit – an industry first, they say. The latest rate cut sees the 5-year fixed version drop from 5.49% to 5.09% – a fall of 0.40 percentage points.
A customer taking out a £200,000 loan on this reduced rate would see their monthly repayments fall from around £1,236 to £1,173, saving £63 each month.
Head of Mortgage Products and Proposition, Jen Lloyd, said: “Research on renters from the BSA and through Skipton Group’s own Home Affordability Index highlights just how many aspiring homeowners are continuing to be held back by the challenge of saving for a deposit.
“This needs to change. Too many renters who expected to own a home by now are still unable to take that first step onto the ladder. This is not because of a lack of commitment, but because saving for a deposit remains one of the biggest hurdles.
“Skipton’s Track Record Mortgage was designed specifically to help tackle this challenge, by enabling renters with a strong history of rent payments to step onto the property ladder without needing a deposit.”
She added: “With today’s rate reduction bringing Track Record to its lowest level since launch, we’re making it even more accessible for renters to realise their homeownership ambitions.”
Since launch, the lender has received more than £296 million in applications for the Track Record mortgage. A version with £1,000 cashback has also been cut from 5.59% to 5.24%.
The rate reductions come as the Building Societies Association reveals the scale of frustration among renters:
- 43% of renters say they thought they’d own a home by now but haven’t managed it.
- Among 25–44-year-olds, the figure rises to 59%.
- One third of renters in that age group say they don’t believe they will ever own a home.
- 67% of first-time buyers say saving for a deposit is the biggest single obstacle to buying.
Skipton’s own Home Affordability Index, created with Oxford Economics, paints an equally bleak picture – showing nine in ten people can’t afford a typical first-time buyer home in their local area, while nearly 80% lack the savings for a deposit.
The building society is also cutting rates across other products – including its innovative Delayed Start Mortgage, which lets borrowers go three months without making repayments.
Reductions in this range include:
- 2-year fixed, 90% LTV: cut from 4.89% to 4.84%
- 2-year fixed, 95% LTV: down from 5.05% to 4.99%
Other key cuts include:
- 2-year fixed, 95% LTV: now 4.89%, down from 4.95%
- 2-year fixed, 60% LTV remortgage: now 3.99%, down from 4.06%
