Post Office Family Link™

Mortgages that make their day.

Post Office Family Link™ is designed for first time buyers who have no deposit but good affordability.

It’s a way of getting them their first home sooner.

How does it work?

Post Office Family Link™ is made up of two loans:

The first time buyer takes a 90% LTV mortgage against the property they’re buying
Then, with a parent or close relative (their assistor) they take out a mortgage for the remaining 10%, securing this against the assistor’s mortgage free home. This is interest free and must be repaid in five years.

And because this application might take you a little bit longer we’ll pay a 0.5% proc fee for both mortgages.

Now that’s something to smile about.

Supporting materials

You’ll find supporting materials to explain how Post Office Family Link™ works on the right hand side of this page, with options to view or download. Here you’ll also find a new affordability calculator. Unlike our other calculators this one will return either a ‘pass’ or a ‘fail’ after assessing the first time buyer (applicant) and assistor’s affordability.

What makes Post Office Family Link™ different?

For your first time buyers

It helps them buy their own home instead of renting
It’s perfect for those with parents or close relatives who are keen to help financially, but can’t or don’t want to gift a cash deposit
After five years of payments, they’ll have paid off the assistor loan at 0% interest plus, five years’ worth of the loan repayments on their own house, so they could be in a stronger financial position.

For their assistor

Post Office Family Link™ allows them to help their child buy their first home
They don’t need to dip into their savings. They just need their own home to be mortgage free.

For you

Post Office Family Link™ helps you get more first time buyers onto the property ladder and submit more business
Potential for more referrals from happy first time buyers
Increased loyalty from your customers.

Important information

What's important for your customers to know?

The assistor must own their home outright / be mortgage free
The assistor must be a close relative, normally a parent, stepparent, brother, sister, stepbrother or stepsister of any first time buyer applicant
The assistor won’t become a joint owner of the purchase property and won’t be added to the property deeds, so there are no additional stamp duty costs
The first time buyer must be able to cover both loans, our affordability calculators will test this
The first time buyer and assistor will need to use the same conveyancing solicitor for both mortgages. This makes sure the mortgages complete simultaneously and the assistor mortgage can be used as the deposit
The assistor must take independent legal advice before completion. We highly recommend the first time buyer also takes independent legal advice before deciding Post Office Family Link™ is right for them
The solicitor giving independent legal advice can’t be involved in the purchase of the property and they must have equal standing to the solicitor overseeing the conveyancing work
The first time buyer is liable for both loans so we’ll be assessing their ability to pay both. We’ll also assess the assistor’s ability to pay the loan on their house
If the first time buyer defaults on their mortgage payments for any reason, the assistor will only be responsible for the mortgage on their home. The assistor will have joint and individual liability on the assistor loan, as well as the applicant. This means that we need to make sure the assistor can cover the costs secured against their home.