The society’s First Step mortgages are available on homes across England and Wales and are initially offered through The Cambridge directly and selected intermediary partners.

First Step is available exclusively to first-time buyers, with borrowing of up to 98% of the property value and a maximum loan size of £500,000.

The Cambridge will lend up to 5.5 times household income, where affordable, and both gifted deposits and loans on new build houses are accepted.

Self-employed applicants are also considered in line with the Society’s standard criteria.

The First Step range includes a choice of two fixed-rate mortgages including a two-year fixed rate at 5.19% or a five-year fixed rate at 5.49%.

Both options come with a £499 product fee, and include a free basic property valuation, helping to keep upfront costs down.

Borrowers can overpay by 10% annually to help increase equity in the property more quickly if they are able.

All mortgage applications are assessed on individual circumstances rather than credit scores alone. Minimum purchase price is £100,000. First Step is not available for lending on new build flats.

The Cambridge product and propositions manager Dan Barker says: “Saving for a deposit is one of the biggest challenges facing first-time buyers, particularly renters who are already managing high monthly housing costs. By relaunching our First Step mortgage, we’re helping people who can afford mortgage repayments but struggle to save a large deposit to take a realistic step towards owning their own home.”

“At the same time, we’ve made sure the product is built around responsible lending, with careful affordability checks and the reassurance of fixed monthly payments.”