First-time buyer schemes compared: which one fits you?

Which first-time buyer schemes exist in England in 2026?

Eight first-time buyer schemes matter in England as of 27 September 2026: Your First Home, Shared Ownership, First Homes, the mortgage guarantee scheme, Rent to Buy, Deposit Unlock, Own New Rate Reducer and the Lifetime ISA. Six help you buy, Rent to Buy helps you rent cheaply while you save, and the Lifetime ISA helps you save the deposit. Deposit Unlock closed to new completions in April 2026 and appears here because people still search for it. Right to Buy and Right to Acquire, for council and housing association tenants, are outside this page.

Below the table, each scheme gets a short section with sources and a link to its full comparison.

What deposit would you need on a £230,000 home?

On a £230,000 home (the example used in reports of the announcement), the deposit ranges from £4,600 under Shared Ownership to £23,000 for the cheapest Own New rates. The mortgages are illustrations, not quotes.

The rent uses the 2.75% most landlords charge (GOV.UK); the First Homes deposit assumes your lender asks for 5%, since GOV.UK only requires a mortgage for at least half the price (GOV.UK). Try your own price in the Your First Home scheme calculator or the Shared Ownership calculator.

Your First Home

Your First Home is the new government equity loan scheme for first-time buyers in England, announced on 26 September 2026. You put down 2.5%, the government lends 20% interest-free at first, and a mortgage covers the remaining 77.5%. It covers new builds from developers signed up to the scheme, with a household income cap and local price caps to come (GOV.UK).

An equity loan means the government owns a share of your home’s value: when you sell, you are expected to repay 20% of what it is worth then, as under Help to Buy. The caps, interest terms and timetable come at the Budget on 28 October 2026 (HM Treasury). Our figures for interest after the free period are assumptions based on Help to Buy, which charged 1.75% from year six (GOV.UK). Start with the scheme guide.

Shared Ownership

Shared Ownership lets you buy a share of a home, usually 25% to 75%, and pay rent on the rest to a housing association or similar landlord (GOV.UK). Your household income must be £80,000 or less (£90,000 in London) and you must be unable to afford a suitable home outright (GOV.UK).

The deposit is 5% to 10% of the share, not the whole home, so it can need the least cash of any route. The catches are rent that only goes up at reviews, a service charge and a leasehold share. Read Your First Home vs Shared Ownership or the Shared Ownership guide.

First Homes

First Homes sells new-build homes to first-time buyers at 30% to 50% below market value. You must be 18 or over, earn £80,000 or less (£90,000 in London) and get a mortgage for at least half the price (GOV.UK). After the discount the price cannot exceed £250,000, or £420,000 in Greater London, and the discount is written into the home’s title so every future buyer gets it too (GOV.UK guidance).

Councils can give priority to key workers and local people, and supply is small. See Your First Home vs First Homes.

The mortgage guarantee scheme (95% mortgages)

The mortgage guarantee scheme is a government promise to lenders, not a payment to you. Permanent since July 2025, it covers 91% to 95% mortgages for first-time buyers and home movers across the UK (GOV.UK). Labour’s 2024 manifesto called it Freedom to Buy; GOV.UK calls it the 2025 Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, and some brokers use either name.

You need 5% down and own the whole home, with no equity loan and no rent. The cost is a higher interest rate, the gap Your First Home is designed to close. The numbers are on Your First Home vs a 5% deposit mortgage.

Deposit Unlock (closed to new completions)

Deposit Unlock was a housebuilder-funded scheme that insured lenders so they could offer 95% mortgages on new builds, with a 5% deposit, on homes priced up to £833,250. Its website and the Home Builders Federation both state that it closed to new completions in April 2026 (Deposit Unlock; HBF).

If a builder or website still offers it, the information is out of date. See Your First Home vs Deposit Unlock.

Own New Rate Reducer

Own New Rate Reducer is a builder incentive that lowers your mortgage rate instead of your price. The builder pays 5% of the price to your lender through Own New, and the lender cuts your interest rate for the first two or five years (Own New; HomeOwners Alliance).

It is open to first-time buyers and movers on participating new builds, with a deposit as small as 5%. When the fixed period ends you remortgage at market rates, so the saving is front-loaded. Full detail on Your First Home vs Deposit Unlock and Own New.

Rent to Buy

Rent to Buy is for people who cannot save a deposit while paying full rent. GOV.UK says it “helps tenants in England save for a deposit to buy a home by offering properties at a discount”, normally 20% below market rent, on new-build homes let by housing associations (GOV.UK). You must be a first-time buyer in full or part-time work who can pay the rent and save at the same time; the initial tenancy is for up to two years, and “you can buy a home as soon as you’ve saved enough deposit and can get a mortgage” (GOV.UK). London has its own version, London Living Rent. It does not combine with Your First Home while you rent, but the deposit you save could go towards any of the purchase schemes on this page.

Lifetime ISA

A Lifetime ISA is a savings account for people who make their first payment before they turn 40. You can pay in up to £4,000 a year and the government adds 25%, up to £1,000 a year (GOV.UK). You can withdraw penalty-free for a first home costing £450,000 or less, at least 12 months after your first payment. Withdraw for anything else and you pay a 25% charge (GOV.UK).

It sits alongside any purchase scheme rather than competing with it. It is also on its way out for new savers: HM Treasury consulted in summer 2026 on a First-Time Buyer ISA that “will be offered in place of the Lifetime ISA” once available, with the terms still to be set; existing accounts carry on (GOV.UK). See Your First Home vs Lifetime ISA.

Which scheme fits which buyer?

Pick the line that sounds most like you; it is a starting point, not advice.

• About 2.5% saved, a new build in England in mind, and happy for the government to take 20% of any price rise: Your First Home, once it launches.
• 5% saved and you want a home you own outright, new or old, anywhere in the UK: a 95% mortgage.
• 5% saved and the new build you want offers Own New: compare the Rate Reducer deal with the same builder’s best price cut.
• Income under £80,000 (£90,000 in London) and even 2.5% of a full price is out of reach: Shared Ownership.
• A First Homes development near you and you qualify: a 30% discount usually beats every other scheme on price, if you accept selling at a discount later.
• Under 40 and more than a year from buying: a Lifetime ISA still pays a 25% bonus, but check the Lifetime ISA page first, because a replacement account is coming.

What to do next

• Work out 2.5% and 5% of your target price with the deposit calculator, then decide which lines above are realistic.
• Under 40 and at least a year away? Read the Lifetime ISA comparison before saving another pound outside one.
• Read the full comparison for your shortlist: Shared Ownership, 95% mortgages, Deposit Unlock and Own New, First Homes or Help to Buy.
• Come back on 28 October 2026, when the Budget sets Your First Home’s income cap, price caps and interest terms.