Proportunity, a London-based neolender, today announces it is working on bringing the UK’s first zero deposit mortgage product to market later this year. The announcement was made as part of its crowdfunding campaign with Seedrs to grow the business and help more people in the UK become homeowners sooner. With the deadline for the market’s biggest player, Help to Buy, brought forward to October this year, Proportunity aims to capture the £4.4bn market gap set to be left behind. The addition of a zero deposit mortgage product to Proportunity’s existing offering, which also includes a mortgage booster loan, is the latest way the company is looking at disrupting the broken borrowing system.

Proportunity offers mortgage boosting solutions that help its customers access the finance they need to get on to the property ladder.  The Zero Deposit mortgage removes the biggest barrier to homeownership: saving for a deposit. Imagine a world where buying is as easy as renting and people don’t need to spend years saving or compromising their lifestyles to get on the property ladder. 

As well as the zero deposit product, Proportunity also mentions in its fundraising video that it will be looking into Rent Buy offers. The crowdfunding campaign invites investors to join Proportunity on its journey to help 1 million people onto the property ladder by 2030 and become the go-to home buying partner for anyone struggling to buy a home. The campaign will be live until 30th June and the final investment will be announced in July 2022. 

Vadim Toader, Proportunity CEO and co-founder says, “In today's market, rising interest rates, an unaffordable mortgage, and cost of living crises are making the process of buying a home even more challenging. We are committed to becoming a trusted provider of home buying services for anyone struggling to buy the home they desire. The new products we are developing will enable buyers to overcome various barriers to homeownership. We’ve already financed over £100m of homes, helping over 260 people onto the property ladder, and we’re not slowing down anytime soon. ”

House prices are increasing at the fastest rate in 17 years due to the cost of living crisis and rising inflation. This is exacerbated by 1.2 million properties now requiring higher stamp duty charges and higher interest rates from mortgage lenders. Due to these factors, first-time buyers are needing to provide higher deposits to access better mortgage rates and affordable repayments, making homeownership extremely challenging.

To get on the property ladder, it may be necessary for buyers to explore other lending options to make up the deficit between the deposit they have from savings vs. what they need to put down up-front. Proportunity aims to provide homebuyers with the right financing tools to help them get on or move up the property ladder, so they can buy the home they want, not just what they can afford.

Stefan Adrian Boronea, CTO and Co-Founder says, “With house prices in the UK increasing at such a pace, it’s more important than ever for home buyers to know which areas are currently most undervalued, so they are able to make sound and informed decisions - Proportunity can help them do that. Our Proportunity Home Index (PHI) enables customers to buy smarter - identifying undervalued homes and avoiding overpriced ones.”

Proportunity’s proposition is similar to the UK government's Help to Buy scheme.  Crucially, however, it is available on any home, removing the restriction to new builds, and raising the home’s price cap from £600,000 to £1 Million. It uses AI technology to analyse millions of data points to see if a property is being purchased at or under its true market value. To reduce the affordability gap, Proportunity provides mortgage boosters to offer an up-to-£150k loan to customers purchasing viable properties. This means buyers can still access better mortgage rates, with just a 5% deposit. The Proportunity loan effectively closes the affordability gap and lets its customers buy the house they want now rather than saving for another 5 to 10 years.