'We are the first traditional mortgage provider in over a decade that does not require a deposit': Justin le Roux, Gable Mortgages

FR: You recently launched to the broker community – tell us a bit about your mortgage proposition and how it stands out in the market.

It is well-publicised that there is a significant imbalance in the UK between the spiralling cost of property and the ability for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder. There are currently 4.6 million primary home renters in the UK with 63% stating that the deposit is the biggest hurdle to them getting their feet onto the property ladder. The average age of a first-time home buyer is now 41 as the ability to save to cover the cost of buying is becoming so high! In fact, Savills recently claimed that the average loan from The Bank of Mum and Dad to help with these costs is now in excess of £55,000! 

As such, Gable Mortgages has launched a number of zero deposit products to solve some of these societal problems, and to help credit worthy UK residents find a home and create their own wealth through the property ladder. There are other high LTV products in the market, but we are the first traditional mortgage provider in over a decade that does not require a deposit.

FR: What’s your background in the industry and what led you to launching Gable Mortgages?

Having been in finance and banking for over 20 years in major markets across the US, Asia and Africa, I have been able to come into the market with a fresh perspective and an eye for an opportunity to what is, for the most part, an archaic system in the UK. But it was actually real life experience that led us to launch Gable Mortgages. A close friend and my co-founder Mike Robinson took 8 years to save for his deposit and it was a discussion over a coffee and almond croissant that sparked the idea to use our experience in the financial markets, to build a lender that could offer mortgages without deposit requirements that maintained financial resilience for both the lender and buyer. 

FR: Do you see a return to 100% LTV mortgages as standard?

We do. We hope that through the success of Gable Mortgages, we will start to educate and see more awareness in the market around the possibility of high LTV lending. We firmly believe that lending criteria and LTI are stronger mitigators of risk than LTV. LTV protects the lender in a foreclosure event, but if you can lend responsibly and with a level of innovation like Gable Mortgages, you mitigate the chance of even getting to foreclosure. If someone earns £100,000 a year and you lend them £250,000 to buy a house, they can afford it all day long, and the chance of default is low, but if you lend them £1m, and the cost of living goes up, they will struggle to pay their mortgage. 

FR: What other innovations would you like to see introduced to the first-time buyer market?

I would like to see the government working closer with innovative lenders to enable them to succeed. The industry has multiple barriers to entry that are hard, time consuming and expensive to climb. I completely understand and agree with regulating this industry given how fundamental it is the overall economy of the county but to get to where we are today, it has taken us almost two years and millions of pounds to get these products to market. Until the industry, driven by government, creates a more flexible environment for innovation, it will be very hard to see movement. The market needs innovation, not only in product development, but in the delivery and the journey potential buyers have to travel to get their keys. That is our next phase and look out for it in Q4 this year. 

FR: You hosted an in-person launch party at this week’s Mortgage Adviser Event – how vital will advisers be to your proposition?

Advisers form the cornerstone of our initial route to market. They are the eyes and ears of the industry, on the front line, and that is where we want to be. We have a invested heavily in creating a seamless way of working with our network of brokers and look forward to having a long and successful relationship with them.

FR: If you could read one headline about the mortgage market in 2025, what would it be?

'UK mortgage market rebounds as first-time buyers surge through Gable Mortgages' zero deposit products'.