In their March Budget statement, the UK government announced a Mortgage Guarantee Scheme to help those with minimal deposits buy a house, effectively reintroducing a 95% mortgage to the housing market as part of their initiative to turn ‘Generation Rent’ into ‘Generation Buy’ and "build back better" from the pandemic. The launch will make more mortgage products available and should in turn boost the housing sector, create new jobs and help people, especially those hit hardest by the effects of the pandemic, achieve their dream of home ownership.

The scheme became available from Monday 19 April 2021 and is aimed at first time buyers and current homeowners who can only raise a 5% deposit towards a house purchase up to £600,000. The government guarantees the additional risk to lenders offering high loan to value mortgages, subject to the usual affordability checks.

Many High Street lenders are offering the scheme, with Lloyds, Santander, Barclays, HSBC and NatWest launching their mortgages today and Virgin Money following in May.