I came across StepLadder (https://joinstepladder.com) a few months ago and as I would like to buy a house as soon as possible I am considering this company to save my deposit quicker. Did anyone have any experience with them?
What they do is basically create circles with people that have a common goal for their deposit (i.e. buy in 12 months with a monthly contribution of £1000) at 3-5% monthly fee. Every month someone gets randomly picked and given the full deposit they originally request to buy a house. Now, obviously you could be the last one, in that case, you would have saved the deposit at the same time you wanted too. If you get picked early you will still need to pay the monthly commitment until the end, and the majority of my concerns are here. Would a lender see this monthly commitment as a negative factor when deciding my mortgage amount and APR? They are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for P2P so I am not even sure how well protected my money would be.
If anyone has any experience it would be great to hear.
It just sounds like you pay 3% for a chance of having your deposit earlier?
I might be a bit stingy but I’d much rather wait and be given money for saving it somewhere myself
As you say, it sounds like it’ll make a mortgage application more difficult as you’d have to explain the extra £1k outgoings and prove that they’ll stop.
True, I think this made more sense a couple of years ago when the cost of housing was rising so quickly.
At the moment the property market is not at its best and with Brexit fast-approaching it might be hit hard too…
The only positive thing that I see here is that I would possibly stop paying someone’else mortgage (rent) and start paying for my own one.
Lol! Just be aware that people looking at your statement will not be impressed!
I stopped for the last 3 months before we applied for the mortgage, because seeing 100’s of “gambling” transactions didn’t look great, and people basically said “We won’t give you a mortgage”.
It didn’t matter that it was £7,000 out, and £8,000 in… (or whatever it was).
When my employer lent me half the deposit to help me get a house the mortgage vendor required a letter stating they wouldn’t ask for it back (ie. it isn’t a debt) before they’d proceed (I merely skipped a few bonus payouts to clear it).
Lets say you go into this scheme and get your deposit in the first few months. That’s a debt - you still owe money for it and lenders will see it as borrowing to pay your deposit which is (in my experience) forbidden.
Further it seems risky anyway. Someone who hasn’t got their payout by a certain time may well just decide to cash out - which they’re entitled to as they’re in credit. The product could become starved of cash before it gets to the end… do they have enough capital to cope with 50% of their backers dropping out early and still having to pay out early to the other 50%?
StepLadder says it will use the new capital and support provided by BBVA/Anthemis to further develop its collaborative finance platform. The startup is also eyeing international expansion Walgreenslistens