Paul Lewis has been appointed by Proportunity as its new head of intermediary partnerships.

His role will be to increase brand awareness of Proportunity amongst intermediaries and lenders and drive business volumes.

Proportunity is a shared equity loan provider that works in a similar way to the government’s Help to Buy scheme. It lends potential homeowners who have a 5% deposit, up to £150,000 or up to 25% of the property value, to enable them to get a mainstream mortgage at a lower rate of interest as well as increase their total level of affordability up to six times their salary.  Where it differs from Help to Buy is that the loan is available on existing as well as new property.  It is also available to existing homeowners, as well as to first-time buyers.

Lewis (pictured) joins Proportunity from The Money Group (TMG) where he was managing director. Previously he was head of intermediary sales at the Mansfield Building Society.

His task is to develop Proportunity’s intermediary distribution strategy. He will be recruiting and managing a team of BDMs to raise awareness of Proportunity’s unique shared equity loan scheme and increase business volume by helping more people get on the property ladder, faster. He will also be liaising with lenders to increase the number of main mortgage lender partners working alongside Proportunity. As the company is planning to help two thousand customers over the next 18 months this opens a £500m-£700m lending volume opportunity for accompanying first charge lenders, it says.

Lewis said: “Proportunity is a hugely exciting company with ambitious aims to help home ownership become more accessible – something that the whole country has been crying out for, for many years now.  With the end of the Help to Buy scheme next year, Proportunity’s shared equity loan will become more vital than ever.

“To help change the housing market to make it more accessible, while working closely with intermediaries and lender partners, is an opportunity that few people are lucky enough to ever come across in their careers.”

Vadim Toader, co-founder and CEO of Propertunity, added: “Our aim is to unlock the value of home ownership for everyone who wants it, helping one million homeowners by 2030. Paul’s appointment is an important step to us achieving that goal.

“Paul is well known and well liked throughout the mortgage market; he has an excellent track record and will be instrumental in helping us work with the market to crack the problem of helping those who want to buy their own homes.”