Rent to Home helps Muntasir achieve homeownership dream

Our innovative Rent to Home initiative has helped another tenant take a significant step towards homeownership.  

After nearly three years renting a flat above one of our properties in Great Shelford, 34-year-old Dr Muntasir Hashim moved into his first home in Waterbeach in December 2025.  

Muntasir moved to the UK from Bangladesh over 15 years ago to study engineering and later completed a PhD in Materials Science. He now works as a programme manager for an international charitable organisation and has spent nearly a decade living and working in Cambridge. Despite a successful career, saving for a deposit while renting in the city remained a significant challenge until he was drawn in the Rent to Home ballot.  

Our Rent to Home initiative - the only one of its kind in the UK - allows tenants to reclaim up to 70% of their rent as a deposit when they leave the property, with the option to secure a mortgage from The Cambridge.  

Reflecting on his experience, Muntasir said:  

"Winning The Cambridge’s Rent to Home ballot marked a major turning point in a journey that began thousands of miles away. The scheme transformed homeownership from a distant goal into a realistic possibility, providing both financial support and peace of mind.  

“Homeownership always felt like something that was a long way off, so Rent to Home has made a real difference by turning years of renting into a meaningful step towards buying my own home. It’s a huge milestone for me, and I’m incredibly grateful for the support and reassurance the scheme has provided.”  

New research from the Building Societies Association (BSA) shows that many aspiring first-time buyers could be closer to owning their own home than they think, but too many are ruling themselves out before exploring what is possible. Initiatives such as Rent to Home show how renting can be turned into a practical pathway towards buying a first home. 

More than half (59%) of today’s first-time buyers have less than £10,000 in savings and on average they think it will take around six and a half years until they are in a position to buy their first home, with one-in-three (32%) believing they will never achieve homeownership. The biggest challenges are financial, with affordability (64%) and saving a deposit (53%), cited as the main blockers. 

Peter Burrows, Chief Executive of The Cambridge, said: 

“We’re delighted to see Muntasir move into his first home and proud to celebrate both his success and the journey he has been on. It is especially fitting that this milestone coincided with the Society marking 175 years of helping people to have a home.  

“Saving for a deposit remains one of the biggest barriers for first-time buyers and Rent to Home continues to show how innovative thinking combined with a commitment to helping our local community can help overcome that challenge.” 

Muntasir is the latest beneficiary of the scheme, joining five previous tenants who collectively reclaimed £75,285 in 2025 to support their move onto the property ladder.  

Currently, seven tenants across four Cambridge-rented properties are on track to benefit from Rent to Home, and we are projecting that more than £134,000 in rent could be returned in the coming years to help fund first-time buyers’ deposits.  

We're set to open applications for our next Rent to Home campaign in the coming weeks with three properties available. 

For more information, visit our Rent to Home page. 
 
Source: www.bsa.org.uk