Affinity Mortgages has been added to the panel of brokers at Proportunity, the shared equity loan provider.

The partnership means that the mortgage and protection adviser, which is based in London and Essex, will now be able to offer clients Proportunity shared equity loans, which support people with limited equity to get onto the housing ladder.

These loans are similar to the government’s Help to Buy scheme, but in addition to supporting first-time buyers are also available on existing properties and to those who are already on the housing ladder.

Proportunity loans are only available through brokers, and provide up to £150,000 or up to 25% of the value of a property which borrowers can then use to obtain a mainstream mortgage at a lower rate of interest than taking out a 95% LTV mortgage. This enables borrowers to lower the overall cost of their mortgage across the two blended rates by up to 40%. In addition, it increases overall loan to income up to 6x on a 5% deposit.

London-based Proportunity has secured funding of £100m, and is presently actively expanding its broker, lender and estate agent relationships. Affinity Mortgages is its latest partnership.

Vadim Toader, Proportunity chief executive and co-founder, said: “The addition of Affinity Mortgages to Proportunity’s panel of brokers will enable us to expand our reach, and offer a real solution to people with limited deposits struggling to purchase a home of their own. It also provides Affinity with a way to help their clients that wasn’t previously available.

“With interest rates predicted to rise again this year, and property prices continuing to increase, we anticipate that a growing number of prospective purchasers will be finding it harder to get onto the housing ladder, or to move further up it.

“We are looking forward to working with Affinity Mortgages to make homeownership possible for their clients where it may not otherwise be. We help people to buy the properties they really want to live in.

Rebecca Lewis, director of operations at Affinity Mortgages, added: We’re really excited to be able to extend Proportunity’s offering to our clients. At Affinity we always ensure no stone is left unturned to find a solution for our clients’ needs, this will only enhance our ability to truly find a solution to every problem.”