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Family boosts

Family support options including Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgages.

Why a family boost may be right for your client

If your client can access family support to increase the amount they can borrow, there are several options available.

  1. Four incomes, four applicants 

    Your client can use the income of up to 4 applicants to increase the amount they can afford to borrow. 

  2. Gifted deposits

    The deposit and costs for your client’s home can be provided by their immediate family.  

  3. Gifted equity 

    If your client is buying their home from an immediate family member, we can accept gifted equity for the deposit. Gifted equity is when the applicant is buying the property for less than it is worth. Your client uses the gifted equity as the source of deposit.   

    For example:  
    Actual value of the property £280,000  
    Buying the property for £230,000    
    Gifted equity/deposit £50,000  
    The property price on the application and for stamp duty is £280,000. 

  4. Joint borrower sole proprietor mortgages (JBSP)


    A JBSP mortgage is a temporary affordability boost to get your client on the ladder. In the future, their financial circumstances may change. If their salary goes up or, once they've paid off a significant part of the mortgage, they may feel ready to fully take on the mortgage themselves.

    With a JBSP mortgage, your client can apply with up to 4 applicants (including themselves) and combine the income of all the applicants. We’ll take their income into account when working out how much your client can borrow. 

    We’ve recently extended the family members who can support a JBSP mortgage application and, as well as older family members sponsoring younger relatives, it can also work the other way around.

    By doing this the family member agrees to pay the repayments if your client can’t meet them (a bit like a guarantor mortgage). But, unlike a guarantor mortgage, they aren't offering their own property or savings up as security against the loan.

    Your client’s family member can't live in the property being bought and they won't own any part of the home your client is buying; it’s completely in your client’s name. And they won't need to pay Stamp Duty or Land Transaction Tax as they won't be named on the property deeds. 

    When we consider affordability for JBSP, we use the age of the oldest applicant.

    This means the mortgage term may be shorter and the monthly repayments higher than some providers. But the advantage is your client will pay off more equity in the first years of their mortgage.


How to make a JBSP mortgage application

To make a JBSP mortgage application, you must complete: 

Who is considered an immediate family member?

An immediate family member is defined as:

  • spouse
  • parents or step parents
  • brother or sister
  • child
  • grandparent or grandchild
  • legal guardian

Important: Sponsors can't live in the property.

Frequently asked questions

Some of the most common questions are:

Household expenditure for the borrower and sponsor must be inputted for the affordability calculation. 


We accept lending to the age of 85, based on an assessment of whether the loan is affordable now and into retirement. 


Where your client is borrowing to the age of 75 and is more than ten years from retirement (70 or state pension age) we will use their current income to calculate affordability. Your client will need to show they are paying into a private pension. As evidence we accept a payslip, bank statement or pension statement.


Where your client is borrowing past 70 or state pension age, and is less that ten years away we will use their income and expenditure to calculate affordability. This can include pension income. If your client is including their pension income, they will need to send us an annual statement with a projection showing they have contributed to a scheme for at least ten years.


Where the term extends beyond the oldest borrowers' 76th birthday we require evidence to show the loan remains affordable in the event of death. For example, life insurance.

You don’t need to input the sponsors’ mortgage debt in the initial affordability calculation. But in order to take account of it, the remaining mortgage debt of joint borrowers must be subtracted from the results. 


Example: 


Sponsors’ outstanding mortgage is £152,000, mortgage applied for is £150,000. Affordability will need to cover £152,000 and £150,000 = £302,000. 


The sponsors’ mortgage balance does not need to be added to expenditure. 


When you enter the sponsors' mortgage balance into our MSO application platform, enter it as £1. We will subtract the sponsors' mortgage balance when we process the application.


These mortgages are only available for purchases and capital repayment up to 90% LTV.

Any non-owning borrower will need to get independent legal advice. 

Each non-owning party will need to provide a completed Certificate of Independent Legal Advice before the mortgage is completed and the funds are released. 

When your client’s mortgage is coming to the end of its fixed term, we'll contact them in relation to undertaking a new mortgage with us. 

If their salary has gone up or if they've paid off a significant part of the mortgage, they may feel ready to fully take on the mortgage themselves.

If your client meets our affordability requirements then they can remove the sponsors from their mortgage. As part of this process, they'll need to contact their solicitor to remove the legal charge from the property. 

You would need to complete a product transfer in the usual way on our online application platform.


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View our JBSP mortgages

Want to find out more? View our mortgage range, including JBSP mortgages.

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