Shared equity lender Proportunity has launched a pilot with a small group of estate agencies including Jeremy Leaf & Co and Edward Ashdale.
The lender offers home buyers equity loans to help them onto the property ladder with deposits as low as 5%.
Proportunity’s loans sit alongside a traditional mortgage in a similar way to the government’s Help to Buy scheme.
Buyers looking to borrow from Proportunity via the estate agents will also need to take advice from a mortgage broker.
The company says its products will help to fill the gaps left as the Help to Buy scheme is phased out.
Proportunity loans can be used on both new-build and older properties, allowing buyers to borrow up to six times their income.
The products were previously only available through a limited number of mortgage brokers but the lender has secured another £100m of funding allowing it to extend its reach across the estate agency sector.
North London estate agent Jeremy Leaf says: “We are very much looking forward to joining this interesting pilot and offering our customers the chance of owning a property which they might not otherwise have been able to afford.”
Edward Ashdale’s Sam Samuel, based in South East London, says: “There are hundreds of would-be buyers in the market who find themselves just short of being able to finance the purchase of a property and we believe this idea offers a great solution.
“It makes absolute sense to us and we’re looking forward to providing this product to prospective buyers who find themselves just short of reaching their first property or even bridging the gap for some to get their dream second home. Proportunity it certainly is”
Proportunity founder Vadim Toader says: “We are incredibly excited to partner with Jeremy Leaf and Edward Ashdale to distribute our solution to the thousands of buyers that need it to afford the homes they want.
“This should help the agencies as well as more people will be able to convert from window-shopping to putting their feet on the living room table, and sooner.”
