The Cambridge Building Society’s Rent to Home initiative has been named ESG Project of the Year at the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland (CGIUKI) Awards 2025.

The CGIUKI Awards recognise excellence across the governance profession, celebrating achievements in areas such as diversity and inclusion, ESG, innovation and transformational projects. The ESG Project of the Year category highlights organisations demonstrating exceptional commitment to operating responsibly and sustainably.

The Cambridge’s Rent to Home initiative is the only scheme of its kind in the UK, created to help first-time buyers who can afford to rent but are unable to save for a deposit.

Under the programme, successful applicants, selected by ballot, can rent a newly refurbished property from the mutual for between one and three years. When they are ready to buy, 70% of the rent paid is returned to them to form part of a deposit on a mortgage with the society.

The initiative has already produced tangible results. Among the first participants were Sophie Rhead and Jamie Bladen, who were selected in 2023. While renting through the scheme, they became engaged, welcomed their first child and reclaimed £24,570 of rent to put towards their deposit, enabling them to buy their first home a year earlier than expected.

Tom Llewelyn (pictured), company secretary and head of governance at The Cambridge, said: “Helping people have a home is at the heart of everything we do, and to see our Rent to Home initiative recognised on a national stage is an incredible honour and demonstrates the power of being a customer-owned organisation.

“Most importantly, it’s great to see that what we’re doing is genuinely making a difference to our members, who, without our help, might otherwise be stuck in the rental cycle.”