Independent guide. Not affiliated with HM Government, MHCLG or Homes England.Who we areOfficial announcement on GOV.UK

Your First Home calculator

Try it with any price

Monthly mortgage payment

£1,042 a month

The equity loan is interest-free at first, so this is your whole monthly cost to begin with.

At 5% over 25 years. Change both under "More options".

Your deposit (2.5%)

£5,750

Government equity loan (20%)

£46,000

Announced as 20%. Help to Buy allowed smaller loans; lower it here if the rules allow. Announced, rules due at Budget Government announcement.

Mortgage you need (77.5% of the price)

£178,250

More options

Use the interest rate from your mortgage quote to see what you might pay each month. The starting rate was checked on 26 September 2026, for a mortgage covering about 77.5% of the home price. Assumed

More years usually means a smaller monthly payment, but more interest paid overall.

How much could you borrow?

Buying together? Add both yearly incomes before tax. This gives a rough idea of what you could borrow. Your income stays in your browser unless you choose to share, copy or embed your result.

Your borrowing estimate Assumed

This rough estimate uses 4.5 times your yearly household income before tax. For a mortgage of £178,250, that means an income of about £39,611 a year.

This is a rough estimate, not a lender's offer or advice. Lenders also check your spending, credit history and government loan. They may offer more or less.

Buying without the government loan

Use a mortgage quote for buying with a 5% deposit and no government loan. This only changes the comparison below. The starting rate was checked on 26 September 2026. Assumed

The costs side by side

Compare the same home with a 5% deposit and a mortgage covering the remaining 95% of the price.

Deposit, mortgage and monthly payment with Your First Home, compared with buying without the scheme using a 5% deposit
ItemYour First HomeWithout the scheme
Deposit£5,750£11,500
Mortgage£178,250£218,500
Monthly payment£1,042£1,348

The scheme costs £306 a month less during the interest-free years, and needs £5,750 less deposit. If both mortgages had the same rate the gap would be £235 a month, so £71 of the saving comes from the cheaper rate a smaller mortgage gets.

Paying back the government loan

Try a possible rise or fall to see how it could change what you owe. Use a minus sign for a fall. This is a what-if example, not a prediction.

For example, when you might sell the home or clear the government loan. This is separate from the years you take to pay off your mortgage.

What might you repay to the government? Expected, detail to come

This loan is separate from your mortgage. It is expected to work like Help to Buy: you repay the same percentage of your home's value at the time, rather than the amount you originally borrowed. If your home's value rises, the amount you repay rises too.

Government loan repayment at different future values of your home
If your home is worthYou repay the governmentChange from the amount borrowed
Value falls 10%: £207,000£41,400-£4,600
Value unchanged: £230,000£46,000+£0
Value rises 10%: £253,000£50,600+£4,600
Value rises 25%: £287,500£57,500+£11,500
After 5 years at 3% a year: £266,633£53,327+£7,327

When interest on the government loan starts Assumed

The rules have not been announced yet. This illustration uses the Help to Buy rules: no interest on the government loan for 5 years, then interest at 1.75% a year on the amount borrowed. The rate rises each year.

  • Year 6: government loan interest of £67.08 a month. Together with your mortgage, that is £1,109 a month.
  • Year 7: government loan interest of £69.77 a month, at a yearly rate of 1.82%.
  • These interest payments do not pay off the government loan. You still repay its full share of your home's value later.
Saving for your deposit

See how long it could take to save the deposit, starting from zero. This does not change your mortgage payment.

How long could saving your deposit take?

If you save £300 a month, reaching a deposit of £5,750 would take about 1 year and 8 months. In a Lifetime ISA, with the 25% government bonus, about 1 year and 4 months. Can you use a Lifetime ISA with the scheme, and what is replacing it?

Tax when you buy (stamp duty)

Tax when you buy (stamp duty) Confirmed

As a first-time buyer you would pay £0 in stamp duty (first-time buyer relief saves you £2,100). How stamp duty works for first-time buyers.

About these figures

New-build homes in England only. £230,000 is the average starter home price (Rightmove) used in reports of the announcement.

The scheme is announced as needing a deposit of at least 2.5%. Announced, rules due at Budget

Figures are illustrations, not quotes or advice. A mortgage is a loan secured on your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Figures are rounded to the nearest pound. How these numbers are worked out.