The Hinckley & Rugby Building Society will now allow mortgages to be split, in order to offer personalised products for borrowers, such as first time buyers being helped by parents.

A split to a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage could enable a parent to have a shorter term when still earning from employment and the child to have a longer term to reflect income levels in the earlier stages of working life.

Split terms are available across all Hinckley & Rugby’s residential mortgage products, including those which may appeal to later life borrowers.

A split into part repayment, part interest-only could suit borrowers who envisage retiring when the repayment term ends and then paying the interest-only split from pension income. Hinckley & Rugby welcomes pension income for affordability up to the age of 85.

Carolyn Thornley-Yates, Hinckley & Rugby head of sales and marketing, said: “We wanted to add the ability to split so we can help first time buyers where the parent’s working income is needed for affordability.

“Almost all parents will plan to retire, usually before a child’s mortgage term would end. Splitting the terms recognises this reality whilst still enabling families to do what they can to help their next generations into home ownership.

“Splits can also work for later-life and mid-life borrowers who foresee wanting the make capital repayments whilst working and then service the remaining balance using pension income to pay on an interest-only basis.

“As a mutual, we are committed to supporting all of our members throughout their financial lives. For our borrowers that means we work hard to be there for them which they buy for the first time, the next time and all subsequent times.”