#RENTSAVEOWN
COULD RENTING BE YOUR WAY INTO OWNING A HOME?
Chris Lee, Founder and CEO of Own Homes
For many aspiring homeowners, buying a home often feels like a starting point where life can really begin. It’s about having your own front door, putting down roots and being able to plan properly. Yet for many, saving a deposit to buy a home is almost impossible
out, there wasn’t much left to save.” Abi’s situation has been different, but the challenge remains the same. “I stayed at home to clear debt first,” she says. “My repayments were basically what I would have been saving. “Owning a home is our number one priority,” Abi says. “Having a family and getting married are on hold until we own.”
That’s why Own Homes has created a new pathway into homeownership, designed around real life. It’s called #RentSaveOwn: Rent your new home. Save while you rent. Own when you’re ready.
MEET TOBY AND ABI
Toby Buckby, 27, and Abi Gilmore, 26, know this deposit challenge well. They’re a couple living apart in Northamptonshire, both staying with family while they save. Toby works as a claims handler for a motor insurance company. Abi is an NHS pharmacy technician. “We can afford the monthly mortgage payments,” Toby explains. “It’s the deposit that stops us from buying.” Before moving back in with his grandparents, Toby rented on his own. “I loved the independence,” he says. “But once rent, bills and everyday costs went
A DIFFERENT WAY TO MOVE FORWARD
Toby and Abi
Toby and Abi are the kind of homebuyers Own Homes can help.They’re on their homebuying journey and plan to use #RentSaveOwn. Rather than asking homebuyers to rent while saving for a deposit to buy, they can: • Live in a new build home they choose • Build their deposit while renting • And own within five years.
Chris Lee, Founder and CEO of Own Homes, was responsible for delivering Help to Buy, the UK’s largest ever Government- backed homeownership scheme.That experience shaped how he’s building Own Homes. “So many people can afford the monthly mortgage to own a home,” he says. “What they can’t do is save the deposit. We wanted to create something that makes
30 First Time Buyer April/May 2026
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