Nationwide’s decision to offer borrowing of up to six times income has seen a 53% increase in the number of first-time buyers using its Helping Hand mortgage over the last year.
Nationwide’s Helping Hand was launched in April 2021. It gives eligible first-time buyers the option of borrowing up to six times income when taking a five or ten-year fixed rate mortgage up to 95% LTV. This equates to a 33% uplift versus Nationwide’s standard lending at 4.5 times.
An eligible first-time buyer earning £30,000 with a 5% deposit could borrow up to £180,000 with a Helping Hand mortgage - £45,000 more than they could without it (£135,000). A couple with a joint income of £50,000 and the same deposit could borrow up to £300,000, compared to just £225,000 without Helping Hand – a £75,000 uplift.
Nationwide has helped more than 63,000 people into a home of their own via Helping Hand since its launch in April 2021, with around £13 billion lent.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, the building society supported around 23,000 people into their first home through Helping Hand, compared to around 15,000 in the 12 months prior – demonstrating the impact of increasing the limit from five-and-a-half to six times LTI.
The number of Helping Hand completions on new build properties between October 2024 and September 2025 also jumped, increasing by 102%.
The period also benefited from regulatory changes including clarification of stress rate rules by the FCA and relaxation of the LTI flow limit by the PRA earlier this year. These changes have benefitted first-time buyers, with Nationwide responding by reducing stress rates in May, extending Helping Hand to 95% LTV new build houses in June, and relaxing Helping Hand minimum income requirements in July.
Regional and single applicant take-up
Nationwide says Helping Hand has been a gamechanger in the Outer South East, where the average price is £263,455. The region leads uptake, with 28% of all Helping Hand mortgages and 15% of all Nationwide’s first-time buyer mortgages.
Helping Hand is most popular in higher-cost areas. In London, where the average first-time buyer home is £450,255, it makes up over a fifth of all Helping Hand mortgages (23%) and 10% of Nationwide’s total first-time buyer mortgages. In the South West, with average first-time buyer house prices at £247,706, it accounts for 12% of Helping Hand mortgages. In contrast, uptake is lower in the North West, which accounts for just 4%, despite the region representing 11% of Nationwide’s first-time buyer lending. This may be down to the lower average first-time buyer house price being £173,114.
Conversely, single applicants for Nationwide’s Helping Hand are more prevalent in the north of the country. More than nine in ten (92%) Helping Hand cases in Scotland were single applicants – that compares to just 64% of non-Helping Hand cases. In the North (which comprises areas, such as Tyneside, Teesside and Cumbria), 87% of Helping Hand cases were from single applicants (versus 58% of non-Helping Hand cases).
At the other end of the country, the Outer Metropolitan (46%) and Outer South East (45%) regions saw the biggest proportion of joint mortgage applications using Helping Hand.
Henry Jordan, Nationwide’s Group Director of Mortgages, said: “Affordability remains a significant barrier to homeownership. We introduced Helping Hand in April 2021 to address this, and we’re delighted to see the positive impact it’s made for so many of our members, supporting more than 63,000 into their first home.
“These latest figures for the past 12 months show that our decision to increase borrowing up to six times income has been a gamechanger for thousands of first-time buyers. But we’re not stopping there, and with the support of government and regulatory changes throughout 2025, we’ve been able to progressively increase our support for potential homeowners as we continue to put first-time buyers first.”
