The Cambridge Building Society has purchased two family-sized houses to expands its rent-retun housing scheme.
The Rent to Home scheme was launched in 2019 and gives first-time buyers 70 per cent of their rent back after three years to use as a deposit to buy a property.
With the purchase of these two properties, one in Northstowe and one in Longstanton, the portfolio of properties comes to five.
The mutual says it has plans to onboard more properties in the future.
Both properties are modern end of terrace homes with garden space and will be aimed at families who might struggle to rent and save for a deposit at the same time.
The Cambridge’s chief commercial officer, Carole Charter, said: “Our Rent to Home scheme has been a phenomenal success and delivered exactly what we intended, which was to help a first-time buyer get a foot on the housing ladder, so it made sense to expand it further to help even more people have a home.
“These two new properties are larger and aimed at families, who can afford to pay rent or a mortgage, but wouldn’t be able to save at the same time for a deposit for their own home.
“We have already had tremendous interest in these properties and we look forward to the ballot in the next few weeks to welcome two new sets of tenants.”
In its latest annual report, the mutual said two of its Rent to Home tenants had received more than £20,000, which they used as a deposit to buy their own homes. New tenants have also moved into the properties.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
