Overview
- Santander’s ‘My First Mortgage’ offers a 5.19% five-year fixed rate with no product fee and £250 cashback, allowing borrowing up to £500,000 with a minimum £10,000 deposit.
- The product is limited to first-time buyers in Great Britain and excludes self-employed applicants, with lending above 95% LTV restricted to existing houses rather than flats or new-builds.
- Affordability checks include a maximum loan-to-income of 4.45 times salary, terms from 5 to 40 years, and a stated minimum loan size of £190,001 in published product details.
- Santander says the deal addresses the deposit hurdle it identifies as the main barrier to ownership, noting its customers’ average first-time buyer deposit topped £85,000 last year.
- Experts welcome added choice but caution that 98% LTV leaves little buffer if prices fall, advising overpayments to reduce risk, and brokers say a move by such a major lender could nudge rivals to expand high-LTV options.