Leeds Building Society to help more first time buyers

Leeds Building Society will provide mortgages to thousands more homebuyers as it looks to increase lending by 40% in 2011, to £1.4bn. The UK's 5th largest building society, which announced record results last month, will continue to design products specifically for first-time-buyers through its range of shared ownership mortgages.

Chief Executive, Ian Ward, said, "We welcome the support package for first-time-buyers that is expected to be announced today by the Chancellor, George Osborne. We know from our own experience that the biggest barrier to homeownership can often be saving for a deposit, and this scheme is a positive step by the Government.

"That is why our shared ownership mortgages, where customers typically buy a 50% share in the property, and then increase this share later up to full home ownership, have proved extremely popular. We offer mortgages up to 95% of the borrowers' share, so the deposit required is much smaller than a traditional mortgage. Where a customer is buying 50% of the property, they only need to find a 2.5% deposit.

"We are committed to supporting more homebuyers by increasing lending and this, combined with the scheme announced by the Chancellor today, will result in thousands more achieving their aspiration of homeownership."

For more information, visit leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk.