A recruitment business is helping its employees to get on the property ladder by paying them £5,000 in cash on the purchase of their first home.

The Venator Group – made up of recruitment agencies Venator Broadcast and Venator Recruitment – says the new benefit is in response to the difficulty many have in buying a home.

According to Land Registry figures, Bournemouth has seen the largest increase in house prices in Dorset.

They’ve increased by more than 9.2 per cent in the last year, making the average house price in the town just over £307,000.

First time buyers need on average £18,000 more than a year ago to save up for a deposit.

Venator says it understands the difficulty many employees have to put aside sufficient money to get on the housing ladder.

It also recognises that investing in property creates more stability and investment in their employee’s future.

Shannon Sewell, Principal Consultant, who has been working at Venator Broadcast for six years having started at the age of 19, has just received her £5,000 cash payment.

The company also covered the tax due.

She said: “It’s been a crazy time to start looking at property in a pandemic, my first property as well.

“Unchartered waters is an understatement.

“There is a lot of competition, more people looking to buy in the area and larger budgets so having an extra £5,000 really has been a godsend.

“It’s a great feeling that my company knows how hard it is to get on the house ladder.

“Their help has been massively generous.

“The £5k payment will not only help with the deposit but also solicitor fees and other moving in costs.

“All the add-ons creep up on you that you didn’t know were involved in buying a property.”

Shannon, who has now completed on her first home purchase, is the first employee to receive the new benefit.

The Bournemouth-based Venator Group celebrated its 15^th birthday this month.

It was founded by Alex Bonnet, pictured left, a graduate from Bournemouth University.

The group, which has a growing team of 30, also owns Venaspace with three business centres across Bournemouth.

Last year group turnover was £3.2m.