Local Lend a Hand!

Most first time buyers who struggle to save up for a deposit (if this includes you, then welcome to the club!) will know that some lenders offer a 95% mortgage. Sounds great but it does mean that the repayments will be something like 6% pr month. Not so great...

However, in May 2012 Oldham Council struck a deal with Lloyds TSB to provide up to 95% mortgages on similar terms as a 75% mortgage! So the council will provide an indemnity of up to you to get up to a 75% mortgage even if you only have a 5% deposit! That way you don't have to worry if you can't save up a huge deposit and not have to worry about the monthly repayments being too much to handle. Both Oldham Council and Lloyds TSB have strict credit requirements and criteria so check out the Oldham Council website for more information and if you live in Oldham you can pop by your local Lloyds TSB branch.

And Oldham are not the only one! The other councils involved in this scheme at the time of writing are:

• Blaby District Council
• Blackpool Council
• Bristol City Council
• Broadland District Council
• Conwy County Borough Council
• Hastings Borough Council
• Luton Borough Council
• Northumberland County Council
• Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council
• Peterborough City Council
• Stafford Borough Council
• Warrington Borough Council

Check the Lloyds TSB website regularly to see if your local council has joined the list. I certainly will!