How Skipton's Track Record Mortgage gives first-time buyers and brokers new hope

This article was produced in partnership with Skipton

Lucy Lewis loves her role as senior national accounts lead at Skipton, but she does have one complaint: “We don’t always see the fruits of our labour,” she says.

“We recognise a gap in the market and a customer need, we put a product out there to meet that need, we have a good reason for doing it, and we hope it helps,” she explains further. “But seeing it impact a real person in real life; that’s a full circle moment we don’t often witness.”

But thanks to Skipton’s groundbreaking Track Record mortgage, there’ve been some stories coming in from brokers on the considerable difference the product has made — and Lewis and her team have been able to share in the on-the-ground joy of helping more people into homes.

‘Absolutely lifechanging for the client’

Lewis recently read an email received from a broker about a client whose situation was particularly heart wrenching. After receiving notice on her rental property, the client met with a broker to explore her options. The client had a disabled son, and they were mainly relying on her partners income and government benefits to live. With only a very small deposit, she believed the best she could hope for was a 30% shared ownership property.

But the broker explained that Skipton’s Track Record mortgage could potentially work for her situation. Launched in May 2023, the product was designed to tackle one of the biggest barriers facing first-time buyers: saving for a deposit while paying rent. Offering up to 100% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages, Skipton will accept a deposit of less than 5%, but no deposit is needed to apply - an industry first since the Global Financial Crisis that doesn’t rely on family guarantors or gifted funds.

Applicants must be aged 21 or over and be able to demonstrate a 12-month history of consecutive rental payments within the last 18 months that are equal to or higher than the anticipated mortgage repayments.

The client in this scenario had been paying £950 rent monthly for three years, meaning that she could borrow up to £178,000 on a Track Record mortgage — and afford a full house rather than shared ownership. She was also able to use the few thousand pounds they saved towards legal costs and moving costs.

“It’s been absolutely life changing for the client,” shared the broker via email to Skipton. “She was absolutely thrilled”

The rise of deposit-free mortgage products

As innovators with their efforts to help tackle the affordability crisis via products like Track Record, the Skipton team has since seen other lenders roll out similar low to no deposit products of their own. This move is positive for the industry, Lewis says, and Skipton welcomes others into the space.

“Every product is slightly different, so provides a slightly different solution. It’s very much about giving options for different circumstances and options can only be a good thing, can’t they?”

There are also significant regulatory developments in the works following the government’s open letter, and the FCA’s response via recently released discussion paper on mortgage market reform.

In a groundbreaking review, the FCA is exploring whether current mortgage rules need to change to better support first-time buyers, self-employed borrowers, and others underserved by traditional lending models. One of the ideas under consideration is whether a borrower’s rental payment history could be more formally recognised in affordability assessments — a key principle behind Skipton’s Track Record mortgage and a sign that the lender is aiming to help with changing borrower profiles.

“It’ll be interesting to see what comes of that discussion paper once the responses are in,” Lewis says. “If the FCA makes changes to its rules, that could encourage more lenders to innovate and offer products that help people who are currently locked out of homeownership.”

For brokers, this could mean more product diversity and flexibility in the future, as regulators and lenders look for ways to open up access to homeownership without compromising affordability or risk standards. Skipton, Lewis notes, already has the advantage of having two years’ worth of data on its own product, giving it a head start on how such innovations can work in practice.

New client conversations and fresh opportunities

Unsure of the demand when Track Record first launched, Skipton applied strict criteria at first. Along with capping at 100% of rental payments, both applicants had to be first-time buyers, without having inherited a property or owned one previously.

But as feedback from brokers and customers rolled in, amendments were made, including that it is now open to those who haven’t owned in the last three years and increasing affordability to up to 120% of the client’s monthly rental payment. Other changes included increasing the maximum term from 35 to 40 years and allowing new build flats and shared ownership properties.

Skipton listens to broker feedback and demonstrates a willingness to revisit and update products where necessary, and brokers should keep an ear to the ground before passing over a product that perhaps wasn’t a fit when they tried it a few years ago.

“That’s the brilliant thing at Skipton — it’s not a one-and-done approach,” Lewis says. “We’re not just innovative with our products, we’re iterative as well. We go back and ask ourselves, what have we learned? Is there anything more we can do? How can we improve it?’”

While Track Record isn’t one of the lender’s top sellers, it still garnered over 106 million applications in 2024. More importantly, it’s well received by the broker community.

“They love it,” Lewis says. “Not just because of what it can do for people, but also because it’s a conversation starter.”

It’s not just getting the right mortgage: there’s a lot of grey in the lender world and brokers are the ones who know which rules may have some flex. Lewis points brokers to Skipton’s Track Record Mortgage page, which includes a PDF guide. By using rental history as a measure of affordability, Skipton has armed brokers with a powerful new tool to expand their client base in a challenging affordability landscape.

Lewis points again to the client who was told she was given notice to leave her rental. For her and her family, the prospect of getting onto the property felt out of reach. But Skipton’s Track Record Mortgage — and the broker’s robust knowledge of potential solutions — ultimately provided access to the property ladder so they could purchase the home the family needed. That, Lewis stresses, is what it’s all about.

“It's security of tenure, which you also know can give people so much from a social mobility point of view and for their kids down the line. To have a property that they're not going to be evicted from essentially, because they now own a property — that’s massive. We're changing people's lives.”

These views are Lucy Lewis’ own.
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