Beyond the Bank of Family: How lenders can unlock homeownership

The Bank of Family now ranks among the UK’s top 10 lenders, which says a lot about the scale of the challenge facing first-time buyers. They are the largest single buyer group in the UK housing market, making up 54% of all mortgaged purchases, and the sector is continuing to grow. There were 391,000 first-time buyer mortgages in 2025, compared with 720,000 total house-purchase mortgages overall.

Yet almost half of house purchases by people under 35 involved financial help from family, with Bank of Family gifts reaching £9.2 billion in 2024. The message is clear: family support is no longer a niche factor in home ownership, it is becoming a defining feature of the market.

For many aspiring buyers, the biggest barriers are still affordability and saving for a deposit. House prices have outpaced wages for decades, while high rents and the cost of living crisis have made it harder to build savings.

This has a clear consequence: growing inequality between those who can rely on family support and those who cannot. Buyers who receive help are typically able to purchase sooner and access higher-value properties because larger deposits open up more options. Those without that support are left facing longer waits, higher borrowing costs, or the prospect of being shut out altogether.

This pressure is not just theoretical — it’s visible in day-to-day broker activity.

What brokers are seeing

That growing pressure is reflected in what brokers are seeing on the ground. Our latest survey in March 2026 found that 59% of intermediaries have seen an increase in enquiries where family members want to support a mortgage or help with moving costs. At the same time, 79% said the desire among younger people to get onto the housing ladder is as strong as ever, even if many cannot afford to do so because of deposit requirements and higher interest rates.

Affordability remains stretched despite some improvement in conditions. In our survey, 54% of brokers said first-time buyers were among the groups most at risk from affordability pressures over the next six months. 

Meeting the challenge

This is where lenders have an important role to play. The market needs solutions that go beyond traditional lending models, supporting not only first-time buyers but also those trying to take their next step up the housing ladder. Flexibility, common-sense underwriting and products designed around real customer circumstances can make a meaningful difference.

Intermediaries are clear that innovation is needed. As one put it, “the desire amongst first-time buyers is still strong but the ability to buy is less clear. Innovation in the market for products with lower deposits is positive.”

Not all lenders are equally equipped to respond to this shift.

How building societies can help 

Building societies are often well placed to respond because they can take a more flexible approach to underwriting. Many use tailored credit assessments rather than relying solely on automated credit scoring, which can help borrowers whose circumstances do not fit a standard model. They also tend to support lower-deposit borrowing and offer niche products that are not always available from high street lenders. 

That can be especially valuable for borrowers with non-standard income, complex family support arrangements or circumstances that do not fit neatly into automated systems.

In practice, this flexibility translates into a growing range of solutions.

Practical solutions

Product innovation matters. Family-assisted options, such as our Family Mortgage, can help buyers where family members want to support the mortgage without making a straightforward gift or loan, using savings or equity in the supporting borrower’s home as security instead.

Joint borrower sole proprietor (JBSP) is a good example of how lending is evolving. It allows affordability to be assessed across multiple incomes, without requiring shared ownership—helping buyers who would otherwise fall short. Building societies can add further flexibility here too, often lending to higher ages than high street banks, which can allow for longer mortgage terms and lower monthly payments.

Awareness gap and education

The challenge is not only whether solutions exist, but whether buyers and brokers know about them. More options are available than many first-time buyers realise, particularly for those with small deposits or family members willing to help in non-traditional ways.

Too often, buyers assume that if they cannot raise a large deposit on their own and home ownership is simply out of reach, when options may already exist.

Lenders are already responding to this need, with the number of 95% and 90% LTV products increasing. In December 2025, the number of 95% LTV products rose to 476, up 111 year on year, while 90% LTV products reached 917, up 155 — the largest increase of any loan-to-value tier.

That is why education matters. The Building Societies Association’s Think Again campaign for first-time buyers aims to challenge assumptions and raise awareness of the routes that may already be open to people who believe home ownership is out of reach.

If we want a more accessible and more equal housing market, lenders need to keep evolving and brokers need to keep these options front of mind. By widening awareness and offering practical, flexible solutions, the industry can help more buyers take their first step onto the housing ladder.