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A Scottish adviser submitted the following case study in support of Track Record where , while the information is anonymised , it is a clear demonstration of the way the product works in a real world scenario .

Our adviser was approached by a single mother who had been renting for over 15 years and was of the belief she would never be able to buy her own property , but with nothing to lose , made the enquiry anyway following the adviser ’ s video social post . Being unsure of the way the new product would work in practice , all they could say was that they would do all they could to help , and set up the initial exploratory appointment .

As she had been bringing up a child on her own and paying private rent it had made it extremely difficult for her to save up for a deposit . The expectation was that the outcome would see the applicant remaining in a rented property , so the positive response meant she was very grateful and very happy to start paying her own mortgage .

As a result , she went on to buy a two-bedroom flat with a garage .

In comparison to her rented property , not only did it give her and her son more space and additional extra storage , the monthly payments were the same as her rent . Her first commitment was to decorate it throughout , as while renting there were restrictions , plus she wasn ’ t keen to invest any more money into the accommodation that wasn ’ t hers .

Skipton ’ s own research has found the cost-of-living crisis is the main setback for many renters , who are now saving less for a deposit than ever before , with 41 % stating house prices in their area are rising too quickly for them to keep up . More than one in three ( 35 %) are struggling to save due to increased rent – and are now having to find an extra £ 1,000 per year for their landlord .

As a responsible lender , Skipton is ensuring the monthly mortgage payment for each applicant is not more than the average of their last six months rental costs , where for example , a tenant paying an average of £ 800 per month over the last six months will have a maximum monthly mortgage payment of £ 800 .

Time for a rethink

Charlotte Harrison , spoke about their approach to innovation in this area “ It ’ s time for a re-think on these massive barriers to home ownership , with lenders like us needing to take the lead on making mortgage solutions available to help tackle such a massive social problem . We ’ ll continue to monitor , listen and learn with our Track Record mortgage and seek other ways to evolve it so it ’ s able to help more people .

All round this is a good news story with one very happy homeowner , who now has a level of security in her own home and longevity of tenure for her child . They have moved into a lovely area which is close to a school and other amenities and she is grateful to both the arranging adviser and Skipton for their support , innovation and commitment .

The adviser reported back that the whole process was very smooth and straightforward , commenting that the underwriting process also went without hitch and that they would , without doubt , consider supporting in the same way again in future .

“ We know there isn ’ t one quick solution to addressing this huge societal challenge of tenants being trapped in renting cycles , with rents escalating faster than mortgage payments and the increasing costs of living but doing nothing isn ’ t going to solve this UK housing issue .

“ As a responsible lender , we know we need to be sensible with our approach in bringing this product to the market and taking steps to look at how we can improve and evolve it further , whilst ensuring tenants don ’ t take on more than they can realistically afford .

“ We know this product will not be able to help everyone and is only part of the solution for this group of people , but as a lender , we ’ re taking a stand to offer innovation in this space to help turn generation rent into generation buy .”

For further details about the product and the full eligibility criteria visit – www . skipton . co . uk / track-record which also includes Skipton ’ s Track Record calculator , giving renters an initial indication of the maximum amount they could borrow based on their average rental payments from over the last six months . This will be the maximum amount they can borrow during their fixed-rate period , which will not be more than their average rent over the past 6 months .

www . skipton-intermediaries . co . uk