100% Mortgage: Can and Should You Get One?

Buying a house is never easy, but the idea that you need a 10 or even 20 percent deposit makes it sound far harder than it really is.

Put simply, you can buy a home with a smaller deposit, and even no deposit at all, which is something most people assume is a thing of the past.

A 100% mortgage is available through a small group of specialist lenders, and if you’re a first-time buyer it could get you onto the property ladder far sooner than you thought possible.

Whether you should take one out is a fair bit more complicated, and that’s exactly what this guide will help you work out. We’ll cover which lenders offer 100% mortgages right now, what the monthly repayments really look like, the pros and cons to weigh up, and the alternative ways to buy without a deposit.

Want to skip straight to what’s possible for you? Book a free initial chat with one of our award-winning advisors.

What is a 100% mortgage?

A 100% mortgage lets you borrow the full price of a property, so you don’t need to put down a cash deposit.

You’ll also see it called a 100% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage, a 0% deposit mortgage or simply a no-deposit mortgage.

In case you’ve not come across the term loan-to-value before, it’s the size of your mortgage compared with the value of the home. Borrow £190,000 on a £200,000 property and that’s a 95% LTV mortgage, because you’ve put in a 5% deposit. Borrow the full £200,000 and it’s 100%.

Can you still get a 100% mortgage in the UK?

While they’re undoubtedly much rarer than they once were, the 100% mortgage has been revived in recent years.

Before the 2008 financial crisis, mortgages for 100% or more of a property’s value were common, and some lenders even offered 125%. After the crash, however, lenders decided they were far too risky and pulled almost all of them.

Having disappeared for years, 100% mortgages began to return in 2023, and 2026 has been the busiest year yet.

So what’s different from the pre-2008 days?

Today’s 100% mortgages are tightly controlled. Lenders typically cap borrowing at around 4.49 times your income, manually underwrite your application, limit the types of property you can buy, and want proof you can afford the payments (usually your rent history) in place of a deposit.

That means while there is choice, the market is narrow. Where you live, what you want to buy and your current living situation all decide which lenders will even consider you.

Which lenders offer a 100% mortgage?

As of September 2026, five lenders offer a genuine 100% mortgage to the wider public: Skipton, Hanley Economic, Melton, April Mortgages and Metro Bank. Here’s how they compare at a glance:

Rates were checked in late September 2026. They change often, so treat this purely as a guide.

Each of the above works quite differently, so here’s a bit more detail to help you work out which could be the right fit for you.

Skipton Building Society: Track Record Mortgage

Skipton’s 100% mortgage (or track record mortgage as they have labelled it) is the best known and, as of right now, the cheapest option.

It’s designed to help renters who want to use their rent as a route to owning. Skipton believe that you shouldn’t always have to choose between paying rent and saving for a deposit, so use your rent payment history to work out what you could borrow.

To access Skipton’s track record mortgage you’ll need to:

• Be 21 or over
• Have paid your rent on time for 12 months in a row within the last 18
• Have kept up with all credit payments for the last 6 months
• Have not owned a UK home in the last 3 years
• Not be purchasing a new-build flat (new-build homes are accepted)
• Be buying in England, Scotland or Wales (this isn’t available in Northern Ireland)

Skipton also offers a Delayed Start version of Track Record, which pauses your payments for a short period after you move in. This is definitely something worth thinking about if you’re worried about the cost of moving.

Hanley Economic Building Society: Rent to Own

Hanley started initially only in Stoke-on-Trent but has lent across England, Wales and Scotland since January 2026, and their rent to own mortgage is similar to Skipton’s track record but with a key difference.

While, like Skipton, Hanley are attempting to help renters buy their first home and require 12 months of full rent payments to help them do so, the amount you can borrow is based on your monthly payments being no more than 133% of your current rent.

To put this into perspective, if you’ve been paying £1000/month in rent, the maximum loan amount you could secure would be £205,479 based off a 30 year term or £220,960 based off a 40 year term.

Here’s a few other things to be aware of:

• Every application is assessed manually by an in-house team without credit scoring, which can help if you have a thinner credit file
• Only resale houses apply, so no flats or new builds
• This scheme isn’t available for shared ownership properties
• Your household income needs to be more than £25,000 per year

Crucially, as long as you’ve been renting continuously for at least 12 months, even across multiple properties, Hanley will consider your application.

Melton Building Society

Melton’s 100% mortgage, powered by Gable Sure, is one to know about if you live with family rather than renting.

• First-time buyers only (if the mortgage will be in joint names, only one applicant must be a first-time buyer, provided there is no ongoing mortgage commitment in the background for either applicant)
• You must be aged 23 or over, with at least 6 months in your current job
• Loans range from £25,000 to £500,000, with each case assessed individually
• Freehold houses and bungalows in England and Wales only, and no flats or new builds

If you’re currently living at home with your parents and want to buy with a partner or friend who has previously owned a property before (a niche situation, we appreciate) this is your best choice.

April Mortgages: No Deposit Mortgage

April’s No Deposit mortgage is, as they put it themselves, “just a modern mortgage with simple rules, long-term certainty, and flexibility built-in”.

Well, when they say that, they really do mean every word of it as you’ll be looking at a 10 or 15 year fixed rate, you’ll be able to make unlimited overpayments, and your rate automatically drops as you pay off more of your mortgage. Whether for better or worse, it’s truly a unique mortgage.

To qualify for it you’ll need to:

• Have a minimum household income of £24,000
• Have a good credit history (check out our guide on what credit score you need for a mortgage)
• Be a UK resident
• Be purchasing a house that is not a new-build (flats are also not accepted)
• Going through a mortgage advisor, such as ourselves

The key here is that no rent history is required.

Metro Bank: JBSP Mortgage

Metro Bank’s new product, which only launched in July 2026, takes a completely different route to helping you secure a 100% mortgage.

Instead of a deposit or a rent history, it uses a family member’s income and support.

An immediate family member (such as a parent, grandparent or sibling) would join your mortgage as a joint borrower, but isn’t named on the deeds, so you own 100% of the property. This arrangement is referred to as a joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage.

To qualify:

• The joint borrower must already be a homeowner, must have a combined income of at least £75,000 and take independent legal advice
• You can’t own another property on completion (it doesn’t matter whether you’re a first-time buyer or home mover)
• The property must be of standard construction and not in an area where prices are declining, and new builds aren’t available at this level of borrowing

It’s important to consider that your family member is fully liable for the payments if you can’t pay, so this needs an honest family conversation.

How much does a 100% mortgage cost per month?

There isn’t really a single answer to that question, as it depends on a number of factors: which lender you qualify for, the rate they offer at the time, how much you want to borrow, and over how many years.

However, for reference, here’s what your mortgage payments would look like if you secured a 100% mortgage with Skipton at their current rate (as of September 2026) of 6.07%.

Of course, things will probably look different for you, so we recommend trying our repayment calculator to see the numbers for your own situation may look like.

It’s also important to remember that the monthly repayment you see above, or calculate yourself, will only be for the duration of your initial fixed period. The amount could increase or decrease after you remortgage.

How does that compare with renting?

The ONS reports that average UK private rent is £1,400 a month (£1,459 in England). On a £225,000 home, a 30-year repayment mortgage costs around £1,359 a month, which is roughly the same. For many renters, that’s the whole appeal, and it’s also why lenders like Skipton and Hanley will treat your record of paying rent on time as something close to a deposit.

Just remember that your mortgage payment won’t be your only housing cost. Buildings insurance, repairs and maintenance (plus service charges if you buy a leasehold flat) all become your responsibility, and you’ll build equity slowly at first.

What does having no deposit add to the cost?

Here’s the same £225,000 home at different deposit sizes. The 95% and 90% rates are averages of the lowest 5-year fixed rates at each level, from Rightmove and Podium data on 26 September 2026:

In this case, a 100% mortgage costs £82 a month more than putting down a 5% deposit. Over a five-year fix, that adds up to an extra £4,920.

That’s the price of buying now rather than waiting. If a 5% deposit is realistically within reach soon, it’s worth pricing both routes up side by side, which is exactly the sort of thing we can help you with.

If a 5% deposit isn’t within reach soon, a 100% mortgage may be worth considering. UK house prices rose by £2,160 between August 2025 and August 2026 (according to Zoopla), and if they keep rising at that pace or faster, you’ll be constantly chasing a moving target. By the time you’ve saved your 5%, the kind of home you were after could cost a fair bit more.

What are the pros and cons of a 100% mortgage?

A 100% mortgage can be a genuine and helpful route onto the property ladder, but at the same time it does come with trade-offs you should understand before you commit.

The pros

• You can buy years sooner. Nationwide estimates that a typical first-time buyer needs around £23,000 for a 10% deposit and close to six years of saving to get there (nearer nine in London).
• You’re not chasing a moving target. As outlined above, every year you spend saving, the price of the home you’re saving for can move too.
• Payments can be similar to your rent. Our example above came to around £1,359 a month on a £225,000 home, against average UK rent of £1,400. That means you can largely maintain the same lifestyle.
• You get certainty. Most 100% mortgages come with a 5-year fixed rate (April’s even go up to 10 and 15), so your payments won’t change while the deal lasts.
• You don’t need the Bank of Mum and Dad. 100% mortgages don’t need a gifted deposit from your parents, which is exactly what 53% of first-time buyers relied on last years according to research from Savills.

For buyers who can afford the monthly payments but can’t build a deposit fast enough, a 100% mortgage turns years of waiting into a realistic path to ownership.

The cons

• Higher payments and more interest. As we saw earlier, a 100% mortgage costs roughly £82 a month more than the average 95% rates on the same £225,000 home.
• The risk of negative equity. More on this in a moment, because it’s the big one…
• Fewer lenders and tighter rules. You’ll have less choice of lenders with only 5 currently offering 100% mortgages, which means you’ll be limited to what type of property you can buy, how long the term can be, and other elements of their criteria
• Remortgaging can be tougher. If you owe more than 95% of your home’s value when your fixed rate ends, your choice of deals shrinks.
• Less room for life to happen. If your income drops or you need to move within a few years, there’s no equity buffer to fall back on.
• You still need cash for the extras. See the costs section below to see what you’ll still need to budget for.

So, while a 100% mortgage offers a genuine stepping stone onto the property ladder, it should very much be seen as a tools not a bargain.

A worked example of negative equity

Negative equity means you owe more on your mortgage than your home is worth. Say you buy a £225,000 home with a 100% mortgage at 6.07% over 30 years:

• On day one, a 5% fall in value (to £213,750) would leave you £11,250 in negative equity.
• After five years, you’d have paid the balance down to about £209,550, which is only around £15,400 off the original loan because so much of your early payments go on interest. A fall of just 7% in the home’s value would still leave you owing more than it’s worth.
• With a 10% deposit, prices would need to fall by 10% before you owed more than the home was worth on day one.

This is ultimately what led to 100% mortgages being scrapped back in 2008.

Can house prices really fall?

Yes. The ONS reports that London house prices fell 3.3% in the 12 months to July 2026. The ONS also notes that growth in the South West has slowed sharply, and the RICS reports moderate downward pressure on prices in London, the South West and the South East.

That doesn’t mean you should panic. If you’re planning to stay put for many years and keep paying, negative equity is a number on paper. It bites when you need to sell or remortgage, which is why it matters so much if you might move within the first few years. It’s also why some lenders, including Metro Bank on its 100% product, won’t lend on properties in areas where prices are declining.

Is a 100% mortgage right for you?

A 100% mortgage is a tool, not a bargain. It can make sense when the alternative is years more renting and you can comfortably afford the payments. However, it makes far less sense when a small deposit is within reach or your finances are shaky.

A 100% mortgage could suit you if…

• You’ve rented for at least a year, paid on time every month, and the payment on a home would be similar to (or even lower than) your rent
• You have a stable income and could still cope if bills or interest rates rose
• You plan to stay in the home for at least five years, and ideally longer
• You don’t have family help and can’t realistically save a deposit any time soon
• You have cash set aside for the upfront costs, plus a small emergency fund
• You’re buying a property type that lenders accept, which usually means a house that is not a new build

If all of these describe you and your situation, the stronger the case for a 100% mortgage.

Think twice if…

• You could save a 2.5% or 5% deposit within the next couple of years, because a 95% mortgage may be cheaper
• Your income is irregular or your job feels uncertain, and you don’t have a financial buffer
• You might need to move within three to five years, when early repayment charges and potential negative equity are most likely to bite
• The payments would only just fit your budget
• You have recent missed payments, defaults or CCJs on your credit file
• You’re set on a new-build flat, or you’re buying somewhere prices are falling
• A family member would need to join your mortgage but can’t comfortably take on the risk

If any of these describe your situation, take the time to fix the problem first, because a 100% mortgage leaves very little room for things to go wrong.

So, can and should you get one?

Can you? Quite possibly, if you tick the boxes above. Should you? Only if the numbers work comfortably today and would still work if life got a bit harder.

So, while it may not be overly helpful, the honest answer is often “it depends”, which is exactly why a quick conversation beats guessing.

Get in touch today and one of our advisors can talk you through what’s best for you.

How to get a 100% mortgage: step by step

Here’s the route most first-time buyers take, from first thoughts to getting the keys:

1. Check your credit report. Get your free credit reports, fix any errors, make sure you’re on the electoral roll, and avoid missed payments or new credit before you apply.
2. Gather your rent evidence. You’ll usually need 12 months of bank statements showing your rent going out, or a letter from a letting agent registered with a recognised body. Some lenders also ask for proof of household bill payments.
3. Work out what you can afford. Use our borrowing power calculator, and add up the upfront costs covered below.
4. Speak to an adviser and get a Mortgage in Principle. We’ll check which lenders you’re likely to qualify with, compare the 100% options against low-deposit routes, and put a Mortgage in Principle in place so you can view homes with confidence.
5. Search for the right property. Stick to the property types your lender accepts (usually houses rather than new-builds and flats), and run any home you like past us before you make an offer.
6. Full mortgage application. Once you’ve had your offer accepted we’ll proceed with a full mortgage application
7. Instruct a solicitor. At this stage you’ll also need to instruct a conveyancer to help you with the purchase. They will handle all of the legal work involved and advise you on any issues or concerns they may have around the property.
8. Mortgage offer. The lender will review your application and issue a formal mortgage offer if they’re happy to lend.
9. Exchange of contracts. Once all other steps are complete and you, the seller, and your solicitors agree everything is in order, you can exchange contracts. At this point, you’ll agree a completion date and the sale becomes legally binding.
10. Completion. On your completion date the keys will be available to collect from the estate agent and you’re now officially a homeowner

Our guide to the mortgage application timeline explains how long each stage usually takes in a bit more detail.

What you’ll need to have ready

• Photo ID and proof of address
• Your last 3 months’ payslips (or 2 years of accounts or tax calculations if you’re self-employed)
• 3 months of bank statements
• 12 months of rent evidence
• Details of any debts and regular commitments

The exact list varies from lender to lender, and having everything ready up front is the single best way to keep things moving.

What costs will you still need to cover?

A 100% mortgage covers the price of the home but what it doesn’t cover  iseverything else that comes with buying it, so you’ll still need some cash in the bank. Here’s what to budget for:

Add it all up and you’re looking at roughly £2,000 to £6,000, depending on the property, the lender and your solicitor.

Alternative ways to buy with no deposit

A 100% mortgage isn’t the only way to get on the ladder without saving for years. Depending on your situation, one of these might be a better fit.

Concessionary purchase

A concessionary purchase (also called a below-market-value or gifted equity purchase) is where someone sells you a property for less than it’s worth, and the discount counts as your deposit.

Say your parents own a home worth £250,000 and sell it to you for £225,000. The lender treats the £25,000 discount as a gifted deposit worth 10%, so you only need a mortgage for £225,000 and you own the home without putting down any cash.

It isn’t only for parents, either. A landlord selling to a long-standing tenant, or an employer as part of a staff benefit, could also work.

The important thing is that discount must be a genuine gift rather than a loan, the seller can’t keep a financial interest in the property, and lenders usually expect the seller to move out on completion.

You can learn more in our concessionary mortgage guide.

Gifted deposit

A gifted deposit is money given to you by family, usually parents or grandparents, to put towards your purchase.

Even a small gift can make a big difference. A few thousand pounds could move you from a 0% deposit to a 2% or 5% deposit, which opens up more lenders and better rates. Just remember a few key rules:

• It must be a genuine gift, with no expectation of repayment
• The person giving it doesn’t get any legal share in your home
• You must declare it to your lender, because failing to do so is mortgage fraud

Our guide to helping your children onto the property ladder is worth sharing with anyone thinking of helping.

Barclays Family Springboard

Barclays’ Family Springboard mortgage lets you buy without a deposit of your own, but someone close to you puts 10% of the price into a savings account for 3 years as security. They get it back with interest if you keep up your repayments.

Here’s what the arrangement looks like:

• 3-year fixed rate, then a LifeTime Tracker mortgage, with loans of up to £500,000
• Your helper isn’t a guarantor and has no ownership of your home
• Not available on new-build properties
• If you miss payments, Barclays may keep your helper’s money for longer

If you’d like to learn more give us a call and we can explain how it all works in more detail.

Why use a broker to secure your 100% mortgage?

You can’t simply walk into a high street bank and ask for a 100% mortgage. The market is small, the rules are strict and they change often. Here’s where a broker earns their keep:

• Some deals are only available through advisors. April’s No Deposit Mortgage is advisor-only, Melton’s is distributed through brokers, and Metro Bank requires specialist advice before you apply.
• Every lender’s criteria are different. One wants 12 months of rent, another doesn’t. One takes flats, most don’t. One lends in Scotland, another doesn’t. Pick the wrong lender and you could lose a valuation fee and end up with a decline, so we match you to the right one first time.
• Rates move fast. Recently lenders have been repricing regularly, so being ready to act when the right deal appears really matters as you could otherwise end up paying significantly more each month.
• We build your case. Many of these applications are manually underwritten, so how your rent history, income and circumstances are presented makes a difference. We’ll get it right.
• We support you with the entire home buying process. We can help with solicitors, negotiate with estate agents on your behalf, arrange your protection, and monitor your mortgage long after you’ve moved in to always keep you on the best rate.

Book your free appointment today and find out what’s possible for you 👇