Your First Home scheme FAQs

The 2.5% deposit and 20% equity loan come from the government's announcement, though the detail is due at the Budget on 28 October 2026. Full answer

The default (5%) is the best fixed rate on 26 September 2026 for a mortgage covering about 77.5% of the price, from a lender that operates across England. Full answer

During the interest-free period the loan costs nothing each month, so the monthly figure is just the mortgage. Full answer

Because an equity loan is a share of the home, not a fixed sum. Full answer

Yes. Press 'Copy a link to this result'. Full answer

A 2.5% deposit, which is what the government announced on 26 September 2026 and which will be confirmed at the Budget on 28 October. Full answer

No. It counts the deposit only. Full answer

Subtract what you have from the deposit shown and divide the rest by your monthly saving. Full answer

Nothing announced prevents it. Full answer

Because the loan is 20% of the home, not £46,000 of cash. Full answer

Yes. When you sell, the sale price first clears the mortgage and the equity loan, and you keep what is left. Full answer

Help to Buy allowed part repayments of at least 10% of the home's value at a time, each based on a fresh valuation, with a £200 administration fee. Full answer

Nobody knows, and the last few years show how much it varies: the Lloyds House Price Index put the average UK home at £298,468 in August 2026, up sharply on 2019 but with periods of falling prices in between. Full answer

Because 100% minus your 2.5% deposit minus the government's 20% loan leaves 77.5%. Full answer

Lenders usually lend up to about 4.5 times household income, so divide the mortgage by 4.5. Full answer

Under Help to Buy, lenders took the equity loan into account and some required the interest to be affordable from year six. Full answer

Not announced. Help to Buy had a list of participating lenders including most big names. Full answer

It is the same idea: a government equity loan on a new-build home. Full answer

No. The government's announcement says the scheme is for new-build homes bought from a developer signed up to it. Full answer

No. The announcement covers England only. Full answer

Not at first. The government says there will be an initial interest-free period. Full answer

Nobody can apply yet. Full answer

Unknown. The BBC reports that ministers have not confirmed whether there will be an age restriction. Full answer

2.5% of the price, according to the government's announcement, with the detail due at the Budget on 28 October 2026. Full answer

Not announced. Help to Buy accepted gifted deposits with a signed letter confirming the money was a gift, not a loan, and lenders usually accept them too. Full answer

No. With a 2.5% deposit, a price fall of just over 3% leaves the mortgage larger than your share of the home's value until you have paid some of it off (the government's 20% shrinks with the price too... Full answer

Many lenders cap new-build flats at 85% loan-to-value, which is why a 5% deposit on a flat can be hard to find. Full answer

Not on homes up to £300,000 if everyone buying is a first-time buyer. Full answer

For stamp duty relief, Help to Buy and the Lifetime ISA, no: owning a home anywhere in the world counts. Full answer

No. Once you have owned a home you are no longer a first-time buyer under any of the government's definitions, even if you sold years ago or lost money. Full answer

Yes, for stamp duty relief. Full answer

Under stamp duty relief and Help to Buy, everyone buying had to qualify, so a couple with one previous owner did not. Full answer

Not confirmed. The BBC reports ministers have not said whether there will be one. Full answer

A signed statement, usually to your solicitor or lender, confirming you have never owned a home. Full answer

No. The equity loan is paid straight to the housebuilder as part of the purchase price. Full answer

No. A mortgage is a fixed sum you repay with interest over a set term. Full answer

Almost certainly yes. Full answer

You repay less on the equity loan, because it is 20% of the value at the time. Full answer

The loans are expected to be funded from existing budgets, and developers are expected to pay a contribution when they sign up. Full answer

Not announced. The government has confirmed there will be a household income cap and that the detail comes at the Budget on 28 October 2026. Full answer

The announcement says 'household income cap', so expect it to cover everyone buying together. Full answer

Not stated. First Homes and Shared Ownership use income before tax. Full answer

Not automatically. Lenders usually lend up to about 4.5 times household income and check your outgoings and credit history. Full answer

Nobody knows yet. The government has only said there will be 'an initial interest free period'. Full answer

Not announced. Help to Buy charged 1.75% of the amount borrowed in year six, and the rate rose every April by inflation (CPI) plus 2%. Full answer

Under Help to Buy, interest was worked out on the amount you originally borrowed, so it did not rise when your home rose in value. Full answer

No. GOV.UK says of Help to Buy that 'interest payments do not go towards repaying your equity loan'. Full answer

Under Help to Buy, yes. Full answer

No. There is no registration, no waiting list and no form. Full answer

Unknown. Help to Buy had no queue: you found a home with a participating developer, then applied. Full answer

Help to Buy charged no application fee, though developers took a reservation fee of up to £500 that was deducted from the price. Full answer

Government pages are on gov.uk. Full answer

Not announced. £600,000 was Help to Buy's cap in London (and, before 2021, everywhere in England). Full answer

Unknown. The government says 'local property price caps'. Full answer

Help to Buy applied its caps to the purchase price. Full answer

Under Help to Buy, no: a home above the cap was simply not eligible, however much deposit you had. Full answer

For some people. If a 5% deposit is out of reach but the monthly payments are not, and you want a new build you will live in for years, it can be the difference between buying and renting. Full answer

It costs you more, but not as much as people fear over the first five years. Full answer

It depends on how long the wait is and what you pay in rent meanwhile. Full answer

Yes, and sooner than with a 5% deposit. Full answer

The government's evaluation, published in September 2026, says 387,000 homes were bought through it, 328,000 by first-time buyers, and 46% of buyers said they could not have bought without it. Full answer

Under the Help to Buy rules we assume will carry over, you repay 20% of your home's market value at the time, whatever you borrowed. Full answer

Help to Buy allowed part payments of at least 10% of the home's market value, so a 20% loan could be cleared in two halves. Full answer

Not under Help to Buy. Full answer

Under Help to Buy: a £200 administration fee, a valuation from a RICS surveyor that you paid for and that was valid for three months, and your own solicitor's fees. Full answer

The loan falls with it. Full answer

Help to Buy loans had to be repaid in full when you sold, when you paid off your mortgage, or at the end of the loan term, normally 25 years. Full answer

As of 27 September 2026 there are four government purchase schemes (Your First Home, Shared Ownership, First Homes and the mortgage guarantee scheme), one government savings account (the Lifetime ISA)... Full answer

Your First Home, at 2.5% of the price, once it launches. Full answer

The Lifetime ISA works with any purchase scheme as long as the home costs £450,000 or less and you meet its other rules. Full answer

No. GOV.UK states that you can no longer apply for a Help to Buy equity loan in England; the scheme closed to new applications in 2022 and its last purchases completed in 2023. Full answer

At the Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026. Full answer

Only the mortgage guarantee scheme and the Lifetime ISA cover the whole UK. Full answer

Yes, in practice. Freedom to Buy was the name Labour's 2024 manifesto gave to a permanent mortgage guarantee scheme. Full answer

You do not apply for it. Full answer

The 2025 scheme rules set no maximum property price or loan size, unlike the earlier 2021 to 2025 scheme, which had a £600,000 cap. Full answer

You would not need to. Full answer

Your First Home, by about £306 a month on a £230,000 home at September 2026 rates, because the mortgage is smaller and gets a lower rate. Full answer

With a 95% mortgage a fall of more than 5% puts you in negative equity, meaning you owe more than the home is worth. Full answer

No. Deposit Unlock closed to new completions in April 2026. Full answer

Nothing with the same name. Full answer

No. The builder pays the incentive to your lender, and the lender uses it to lower your interest rate for the fixed period. Full answer

Not always. HomeOwners Alliance reports that you can buy through Rate Reducer with a deposit as small as 5%, but the lowest rates it lists need a 10% deposit and a 5% builder incentive. Full answer

The incentive is used up. Full answer

Nothing has been announced. Full answer

No. First Homes is a discount: you buy the home for at least 30% below market value and the discount stays with the home for ever. Full answer

Not announced, and unlikely. Full answer

On day one, First Homes: a 30% discount is worth more than a 20% loan. Full answer

Because councils and developers decide how many First Homes each new development includes, and many areas have very few. Full answer

An Irish government shared equity scheme (firsthomescheme.ie) that takes a stake of up to 30% in a new home. Full answer

No. The equity loan scheme in England closed to new applications on 31 October 2022 and the last completions were in March 2023. Full answer

The mechanism is the same: a 20% government equity loan on a new build, repaid as a share of value. Full answer

No. Your loan keeps its original terms. Full answer

The government's own evaluation says both things: it helped 387,000 households buy, 46% of whom said they could not have bought otherwise, and it added around 15% to new-build supply; but it also push... Full answer

Interest-free for five years, then 1.75% of the amount borrowed in year six, rising each April. Full answer

Yes, as far as the rules published so far allow. Full answer

£450,000, everywhere in the UK, with no higher figure for London. Full answer

You pay a 25% withdrawal charge on the amount taken out. Full answer

At least 12 months from your first payment. Full answer

Yes. If you are buying together and you are both first-time buyers who meet the conditions, GOV.UK says you can both use your savings and your bonuses on the same purchase. Full answer

Not in the way Your First Home or Shared Ownership are. Full answer

It is being replaced for new savers, not scrapped for existing ones. Full answer

Month by month, usually yes, because you only have a mortgage on your share. Full answer

Nothing in the announcement suggests the two combine. Full answer

It depends on the share. Full answer

Yes, and GOV.UK says it will not go down. Full answer

Possibly. As a first-time buyer you pay no stamp duty up to £300,000 on a home you buy outright, and 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000. Full answer