Tembo describes itself as a “homeownership partner”, as it supports people through the whole home buying process – from saving for a deposit all the way through to purchasing their first home.
To achieve this, it uses smart technology and expert advice to search over 100 lenders and 25+ specialist schemes to find you a suitable mortgage deal.
If you’re a first-time buyer, it’s definitely worth considering Tembo to save your deposit and find your mortgage deal when the time is right. It has competitive savings products and the mortgage advice is free to existing customers.
Tembo is a whole-of-market broker, which means you don’t have to shop around – making the stressful experience of buying your first home more manageable. It’s also well-equipped to help if you’re looking for a more specialist or complex mortgage.
However, if you’re looking for a simple mortgage broker rather than a comprehensive homeownership platform, the number of features and different products in Tembo could feel a little overwhelming. You may also be charged fees if you’re not an existing customer, whereas there are fee-free brokers out there.
Tembo makes a bold claim that it can increase the average user’s budget by £82,000. Naturally it’s probably a smaller number if you’re a first-time buyer on a low income… and crucially it’s “versus standard mortgage calculators”. But when we tested the claim with a first-time buyer in their 20s and a remortgage-er in their 40s, against a high-street bank’s online calculator, we were pleasantly surprised to see the claim actually hold up – suggesting £88k and £105k increases respectively.
Tembo is best-suited to first-time buyers, especially those who are early on in the process. This is because it offers strong savings rates to help you grow your deposit, and the mortgage advice/brokering service is fee-free for Tembo savings customers.
While some other brokers try to do everything over live chat, Tembo’s primarily phone-based. So add that to the fact that it helps you consider 25+ schemes to unlock bigger budgets, and we think it’s also well geared up to first-time buyers with more complex cases (which some brokers simply wouldn’t have an appetite for).
I already had the Tembo app, so I tested the mortgage broker service to see how it works and how simple it is to use:
"I love that I can see everything in one place with the Tembo app – my Lifetime ISA, specialised savings account and mortgage application process. Seeing progress towards my deposit goal is great for motivation and staying on track. However, it only shows my Lifetime ISA in the progress bar rather than counting my HomeSaver pot towards my goal, which is a little confusing.
I found Tembo’s online broker service to be straightforward and informative. The expert on the call was helpful and friendly, and gave me her email in case I had any questions before scheduling my next appointment.
I’m looking to buy with my partner, so did find it confusing that you couldn’t specify multiple buyers until the end of the initial form. It was a little unclear whether the deposit is just your contribution or the total pooled amount. However, I was able to clarify these details when speaking to them on the phone."
"With my 5-year fix coming to an end, I tried out Tembo to see if it could help me get a competitive new rate.
The initial form took me about 10 minutes, after which I had the choice of live chat or a phone appointment. It talk me a moment to realise that the live chat service was fully-automated and that I’d still need the phone chat. But a slot was available within the next 2hrs, which was ideal.
The “10 minutes with Tembo” call took a little over 10 minutes in fact, but I had my mortgage in principle by the end of it. Plus all the ID verification was done. I went on to have a longer call to select a specific mortgage product. This call was with Jason, who really was a pro and quickly helped me weigh up the current top fixed rates with the top trackers. I landed on a 2yr tracker from Barclays.
Overall I was very happy that I’d done my due diligence with Tembo’s help and ended up with a great deal. Along the way, all the key details were confirmed by email so I didn’t get my pen and paper out at any point!"
Fees do apply for some Tembo users, but you never pay for advice alone and will only pay once you take up a mortgage offer. If you have an existing savings account with Tembo, you also qualify for fee-free advice.
Tembo offers the following savings accounts:
Tembo’s signature savings products for prospective homebuyers are the Lifetime ISA (available as either cash or stocks and shares) and the HomeSaver.
At the time of writing (July 2026), Tembo offers a very competitive rate on its cash lifetime ISA (LISA). It’s easy to track your savings and progress towards your homebuying goal in the app – and add more deposits up to your yearly limit. To find out more about how LISAs work, you can read our guide.
They also offer a stocks and shares LISA – but there is not much choice as your money is invested in a single ESG fund. The platform is more geared towards cash savers.
The HomeSaver is a specialised savings account for aspiring first-time buyers. You can contribute up to £20,000 in total and receive a competitive savings rate on your balance.
It’s made up of a base rate, an introductory fixed bonus, and a HomeSaver bonus, which is paid out if you complete a qualifying mortgage or remortgage with Tembo within 3 years of opening the account.
Your money with Tembo is FSCS protected and it is held with partner banks: Barclays, Bank of Scotland, Aldermore Bank, QNB Bank or Shawbrook Bank. There is a £120,000 FSCS deposit protection limit per person, per bank.
Tembo is fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, which means it’s bound to the same regulations as all major financial companies across the UK.
Tembo fares very well on TrustPilot with score of 4.8 out of 5 from more than 7,000 reviews, rating it “Excellent” (as of July 2026).
Many customer comments cited Tembo’s fast response times and its supportiveness. Negative comments were more on the savings side than the mortgage advice side, but the majority of customers were very happy with their experiences with both aspects.
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