£5m scheme will help 250 first-time buyers in Walsall

Under the first part of the £5 million mortgage scheme, around 100 first time buyers can get help from the Local Lend a Hand scheme.

Walsall Council has invested £2m in this part of the programme which is being run by Lloyds TSB, with first time buyers only needing to find a deposit of around five per cent.

Overall, the local authority hopes to invest a total of £5m and help as many as 250 people get on the property ladder. Regeneration chief Councillor Adrian Andrew saying it would have a real impact on peoples' lives.

"As an authority, we want our residents to have the best start in life," he said. "By helping people to buy homes we will be providing a much-needed boost for the borough's housing market."

Surveys show the majority of first time buyers say the biggest challenge is to raise the deposit needed to buy their first home.

Under the Local Lend a Hand scheme, borrowers can buy their home with a deposit less than the 10 per cent required from most mortgage lenders.

Finance boss Chris Towe said :"It is clear that by investing £2m in the Lloyds TSB Lend a Hand scheme in Walsall, we have put some real clout behind the real problem that first time buyers have of raising a deposit."

Increasing numbers of younger people are said to be living at home due to the difficulties of getting a deposit together for a home.

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders released earlier this year show two thirds of first time buyers rely on "the bank of Mum and Dad" to get on the property ladder.

Under the new scheme, borrowers can select a Walsall property up to a maximum loan of £142,500. First time buyers put down a minimum of five per cent of the property price while

Walsall Council will provide a cash-backed indemnity of up to 20 per cent as an additional security. The local authority then earns interest on this amount.