Metro Bank has pushed lending to the very top of the loan-to-value scale with a new joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage allowing first-time buyers to borrow over 95 per cent and up to 100 per cent of a property’s value, backed by the income of an immediate family member. Brokers have welcomed the launch but cautioned that it “needs very careful advice”.
The product lands in a market where first-time buyer affordability continues to worsen and follows Gable Mortgages’ return of no-deposit lending . With the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme heading for expiry, lenders are competing to solve the deposit problem themselves.
The joint borrower must be an immediate family member, such as a spouse, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild, and must have their own source of income outside of their pension and any other benefits. Both parties are liable for the repayments, but the borrower retains all rights to the property, with the joint borrower stepping in as a safety net if payments are missed or financial circumstances change.
Lending is subject to Metro Bank’s affordability checks and enhanced eligibility requirements. Whether applicants come direct or through a broker, they will receive specialist mortgage advice before applying.
The mortgage carries no product or valuation fee and is available on five-year fixed rates only, with a five-year minimum term and a maximum term of 35 years.
Charles Morley, director of mortgage distribution at Metro Bank, said acting as a joint borrower lets family “be that support without watering down the ownership of the property or being asked to provide a deposit”, adding that the bank had “carefully developed” the product with responsible lending in mind.
Doug Miller, director at Bath-based Lansdown Financial Services, said these products have replaced the traditional guarantor mortgages of previous years. “We have seen a significant increase in demand for JBSP mortgages as property prices continue to rise and affordability has become stretched,” he said.
He warned that family members acting as joint borrowers “are taking on a significant financial commitment, so it’s essential they fully understand the risks as well as the opportunities.”
Liability was the recurring theme. Samuel Mather-Holgate, managing director at Swindon-based Mather and Murray Financial, said: “The parent is not just offering moral support, they are jointly liable for the mortgage. If payments are missed, it can affect their credit file, future borrowing and retirement plans.”
Tracey Dixon, owner at Cardiff-based Pure Mortgage and Protection, called JBSP mortgages a “real lifeline” for some first-time buyers but stressed parents are not simply guarantors. “Just because someone can borrow 100% doesn’t necessarily mean they should,” she said.
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Norwich-based Yellow Brick Mortgages, said the headline lending figure should not distract from whether the deal suits the family. “Like any mortgage, borrowing more is only sensible if the repayments remain comfortable should circumstances change,” he said.
Richard Davidson, mortgage advisor at onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk, called the launch good news because “for most of the people we speak to, the problem was never whether they can afford a mortgage, it’s that they can’t save a deposit while handing over most of their income in rent every month.”
He argued its strength is working off affordability rather than a cash gift, as many parents in their early 50s have their own mortgage and little spare capital. That chimes with UK Finance data showing over a third of first-time buyers had help raising a deposit in 2024/25.
Darryl Dhoffer, founder at Bedford-based The Mortgage Geezer, was less convinced, saying that in over 10 years as a broker he could count the JBSPs he has written on one hand. He said Metro Bank lends up to age 80 but ties terms to the oldest applicant, so a 55-year-old parent compresses the term and inflates monthly payments.
“It’s brilliant PR for Metro Bank, and it will fit a very specific, high-earning niche where a parent is young and wealthy. But for the average first-time buyer, the age and term bottleneck will keep this product firmly on the shelf,” he said.
For landlords and portfolio investors, the launch is another signal that lenders see stretched affordability, not appetite, as the constraint on first-time buyer demand. ONS housing affordability figures show house prices still running well ahead of earnings, so products that unlock frustrated buyers should deepen demand and liquidity at the entry level of the market where investors trade most.
Investors acting as joint borrowers for their children take on a liability that sits on their credit file and will count against affordability in any future borrowing, including buy-to-let finance. If more lenders follow Metro Bank up the loan-to-value curve, expect family-assisted lending to become a fixture of the first-time buyer market, and expect the advice bill that comes with it.
