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The new Your First Home Scheme will let eligible first time buyers purchase a new-build home with a 2.5% deposit and a 20% Help to Buy-style equity loan. We explain how it will work, who will qualify, how to apply and the pros and cons.
The government has announced the new Your First Home Scheme, which is expected to help more first time buyers in England get onto the property ladder. With a deposit of just 2.5% and a government-backed equity loan, the scheme could significantly reduce the amount buyers need to borrow. Here’s what we know so far.
KEY INFORMATION
Jump to: How it works | Example | Eligibility calculator | Property price caps |Your First Home vs Help to Buy | Pros and cons | FAQs
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Your First Home is a new first time buyer scheme expected to offer a government-backed equity loan to help eligible buyers purchase a new-build home in England.
Under the Your First Home Scheme:
The government says buyers could pay less each month than with a standard 95% mortgage, but actual costs depend on the property, mortgage rate and buyer’s circumstances. Lenders will carry out affordability and credit checks
Here’s how the Your First Home Scheme is expected to work if you were buying a £300,000 new-build home with a 20% equity loan and 2.5% deposit.
| Source | % of house value | £ value |
| Equity loan | 20% | £60,000 |
| Deposit | 2.5% | £7,500 |
| Mortgage | 77.5% | £232,500 |
With Your First Home, the deposit in this example is £7,500 and the mortgage is £232,500. A buyer using a standard 95% mortgage with a 5% deposit would need a £15,000 deposit and a £285,000 mortgage. This comparison does not include the equity-loan interest that applies from year six
The government has not specified how participating lenders will assess how much buyers can borrow. Lenders will carry out their own affordability and credit checks.
We currently expect lenders offering mortgages through the Your First Home Scheme to lend up to 4.5 times your annual household income, although some may offer more.
The amount you can actually borrow will depend on your income, outgoings and the lender’s affordability checks.
Use our How much can I borrow calculator to get an idea of how much you may be able to borrow.
The government has published examples of local property price caps. These will vary by local authority.
For example, in Middlesborough, the property price cap is £220,000 while in inner London it is £650,000. If you bought a property at this price, here’s how much deposit, equity loan and mortgage you would need.
| Portions of house purchase | £220,000 home in Middlesbrough | £650,000 home in inner London |
|---|---|---|
| Your deposit: 2.5% | £5,500 | £16,250 |
| Government equity loan: 20% | £44,000 | £130,000 |
| Repayment mortgage: 77.5% | £170,500 | £503,750 |
| Local authority | Your First Home property price cap |
|---|---|
| Adur | £420,000 |
| Amber Valley | £290,000 |
| Arun | £405,000 |
| Ashfield | £275,000 |
| Ashford | £435,000 |
| Babergh | £355,000 |
| Barking and Dagenham | £500,000 |
| Barnet | £500,000 |
| Barnsley | £245,000 |
| Basildon | £460,000 |
| Basingstoke and Deane | £425,000 |
| Bassetlaw | £245,000 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | £400,000 |
| Bedford | £410,000 |
| Bexley | £500,000 |
| Birmingham | £315,000 |
| Blaby | £335,000 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | £275,000 |
| Blackpool | £235,000 |
| Bolsover | £240,000 |
| Bolton | £300,000 |
| Boston | £235,000 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £315,000 |
| Bracknell Forest | £500,000 |
| Bradford | £265,000 |
| Braintree | £435,000 |
| Breckland | £310,000 |
| Brent | £500,000 |
| Brentwood | £385,000 |
| Brighton and Hove | £415,000 |
| Bristol, City of | £325,000 |
| Broadland | £345,000 |
| Bromley | £500,000 |
| Bromsgrove | £365,000 |
| Broxbourne | £530,000 |
| Broxtowe | £285,000 |
| Buckinghamshire | £430,000 |
| Burnley | £230,000 |
| Bury | £340,000 |
| Calderdale | £275,000 |
| Cambridge | £505,000 |
| Camden | £650,000 |
| Cannock Chase | £290,000 |
| Canterbury | £405,000 |
| Castle Point | £365,000 |
| Central Bedfordshire | £440,000 |
| Charnwood | £325,000 |
| Chelmsford | £410,000 |
| Cheltenham | £325,000 |
| Cherwell | £420,000 |
| Cheshire East | £310,000 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | £295,000 |
| Chesterfield | £255,000 |
| Chichester | £405,000 |
| Chorley | £300,000 |
| City of London | £650,000 |
| Colchester | £385,000 |
| Cornwall | £310,000 |
| Cotswold | £395,000 |
| County Durham | £220,000 |
| Coventry | £305,000 |
| Crawley | £330,000 |
| Croydon | £500,000 |
| Cumberland | £220,000 |
| Dacorum | £380,000 |
| Darlington | £240,000 |
| Dartford | £365,000 |
| Derby | £290,000 |
| Derbyshire Dales | £295,000 |
| Doncaster | £240,000 |
| Dorset | £355,000 |
| Dover | £350,000 |
| Dudley | £295,000 |
| Ealing | £500,000 |
| East Cambridgeshire | £370,000 |
| East Devon | £325,000 |
| East Hampshire | £425,000 |
| East Hertfordshire | £470,000 |
| East Lindsey | £230,000 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | £265,000 |
| East Staffordshire | £260,000 |
| East Suffolk | £315,000 |
| Eastbourne | £310,000 |
| Eastleigh | £425,000 |
| Elmbridge | £490,000 |
| Enfield | £500,000 |
| Epping Forest | £470,000 |
| Epsom and Ewell | £480,000 |
| Erewash | £245,000 |
| Exeter | £370,000 |
| Fareham | £415,000 |
| Fenland | £280,000 |
| Folkestone and Hythe | £340,000 |
| Forest of Dean | £300,000 |
| Fylde | £275,000 |
| Gateshead | £240,000 |
| Gedling | £295,000 |
| Gloucester | £325,000 |
| Gosport | £225,000 |
| Gravesham | £420,000 |
| Great Yarmouth | £280,000 |
| Greenwich | £650,000 |
| Guildford | £505,000 |
| Hackney | £650,000 |
| Halton | £305,000 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | £650,000 |
| Harborough | £325,000 |
| Haringey | £500,000 |
| Harlow | £370,000 |
| Harrow | £500,000 |
| Hart | £445,000 |
| Hartlepool | £220,000 |
| Hastings | £375,000 |
| Havant | £380,000 |
| Havering | £500,000 |
| Herefordshire, County of | £310,000 |
| Hertsmere | £460,000 |
| High Peak | £285,000 |
| Hillingdon | £500,000 |
| Hinckley and Bosworth | £305,000 |
| Horsham | £450,000 |
| Hounslow | £500,000 |
| Huntingdonshire | £410,000 |
| Hyndburn | £240,000 |
| Ipswich | £315,000 |
| Isle of Wight | £260,000 |
| Isles of Scilly | £310,000 |
| Islington | £650,000 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | £650,000 |
| King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | £320,000 |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | £230,000 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £500,000 |
| Kirklees | £285,000 |
| Knowsley | £285,000 |
| Lambeth | £650,000 |
| Lancaster | £285,000 |
| Leeds | £305,000 |
| Leicester | £340,000 |
| Lewes | £405,000 |
| Lewisham | £650,000 |
| Lichfield | £310,000 |
| Lincoln | £270,000 |
| Liverpool | £235,000 |
| Luton | £365,000 |
| Maidstone | £415,000 |
| Maldon | £390,000 |
| Malvern Hills | £330,000 |
| Manchester | £355,000 |
| Mansfield | £270,000 |
| Medway | £420,000 |
| Melton | £300,000 |
| Merton | £500,000 |
| Mid Devon | £320,000 |
| Mid Suffolk | £350,000 |
| Mid Sussex | £460,000 |
| Middlesbrough | £220,000 |
| Milton Keynes | £440,000 |
| Mole Valley | £330,000 |
| New Forest | £330,000 |
| Newark and Sherwood | £275,000 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | £265,000 |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | £265,000 |
| Newham | £650,000 |
| North Devon | £320,000 |
| North East Derbyshire | £285,000 |
| North East Lincolnshire | £230,000 |
| North Hertfordshire | £465,000 |
| North Kesteven | £270,000 |
| North Lincolnshire | £215,000 |
| North Norfolk | £285,000 |
| North Northamptonshire | £325,000 |
| North Somerset | £350,000 |
| North Tyneside | £270,000 |
| North Warwickshire | £315,000 |
| North West Leicestershire | £320,000 |
| North Yorkshire | £290,000 |
| Northumberland | £225,000 |
| Norwich | £260,000 |
| Nottingham | £300,000 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth | £315,000 |
| Oadby and Wigston | £400,000 |
| Oldham | £300,000 |
| Oxford | £415,000 |
| Pendle | £250,000 |
| Peterborough | £315,000 |
| Plymouth | £265,000 |
| Portsmouth | £340,000 |
| Preston | £280,000 |
| Reading | £375,000 |
| Redbridge | £500,000 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | £220,000 |
| Redditch | £330,000 |
| Reigate and Banstead | £445,000 |
| Ribble Valley | £280,000 |
| Richmond upon Thames | £500,000 |
| Rochdale | £275,000 |
| Rochford | £435,000 |
| Rossendale | £270,000 |
| Rother | £390,000 |
| Rotherham | £285,000 |
| Rugby | £370,000 |
| Runnymede | £430,000 |
| Rushcliffe | £355,000 |
| Rushmoor | £365,000 |
| Rutland | £310,000 |
| Salford | £305,000 |
| Sandwell | £280,000 |
| Sefton | £290,000 |
| Sevenoaks | £465,000 |
| Sheffield | £260,000 |
| Shropshire | £305,000 |
| Slough | £395,000 |
| Solihull | £310,000 |
| Somerset | £315,000 |
| South Cambridgeshire | £455,000 |
| South Derbyshire | £295,000 |
| South Gloucestershire | £385,000 |
| South Hams | £345,000 |
| South Holland | £255,000 |
| South Kesteven | £290,000 |
| South Norfolk | £350,000 |
| South Oxfordshire | £450,000 |
| South Ribble | £265,000 |
| South Staffordshire | £300,000 |
| South Tyneside | £230,000 |
| Southampton | £245,000 |
| Southend-on-Sea | £320,000 |
| Southwark | £650,000 |
| Spelthorne | £375,000 |
| St Albans | £515,000 |
| St Helens | £270,000 |
| Stafford | £295,000 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands | £250,000 |
| Stevenage | £450,000 |
| Stockport | £305,000 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £235,000 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £245,000 |
| Stratford-on-Avon | £340,000 |
| Stroud | £355,000 |
| Sunderland | £235,000 |
| Surrey Heath | £385,000 |
| Sutton | £500,000 |
| Swale | £410,000 |
| Swindon | £375,000 |
| Tameside | £310,000 |
| Tamworth | £300,000 |
| Tandridge | £470,000 |
| Teignbridge | £340,000 |
| Telford and Wrekin | £285,000 |
| Tendring | £365,000 |
| Test Valley | £365,000 |
| Tewkesbury | £350,000 |
| Thanet | £350,000 |
| Three Rivers | £440,000 |
| Thurrock | £350,000 |
| Tonbridge and Malling | £435,000 |
| Torbay | £325,000 |
| Torridge | £290,000 |
| Tower Hamlets | £650,000 |
| Trafford | £285,000 |
| Tunbridge Wells | £445,000 |
| Uttlesford | £475,000 |
| Vale of White Horse | £415,000 |
| Wakefield | £260,000 |
| Walsall | £290,000 |
| Waltham Forest | £500,000 |
| Wandsworth | £650,000 |
| Warrington | £360,000 |
| Warwick | £390,000 |
| Watford | £420,000 |
| Waverley | £460,000 |
| Wealden | £400,000 |
| Welwyn Hatfield | £385,000 |
| West Berkshire | £430,000 |
| West Devon | £315,000 |
| West Lancashire | £275,000 |
| West Lindsey | £250,000 |
| West Northamptonshire | £355,000 |
| West Oxfordshire | £390,000 |
| West Suffolk | £380,000 |
| Westminster | £650,000 |
| Westmorland and Furness | £275,000 |
| Wigan | £270,000 |
| Wiltshire | £350,000 |
| Winchester | £420,000 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | £415,000 |
| Wirral | £255,000 |
| Woking | £345,000 |
| Wokingham | £485,000 |
| Wolverhampton | £290,000 |
| Worcester | £305,000 |
| Worthing | £300,000 |
| Wychavon | £295,000 |
| Wyre | £255,000 |
| Wyre Forest | £295,000 |
| York | £370,000 |
The government has confirmed that the Your First Home Scheme will be for first-time buyers in England purchasing a new-build property from a participating developer.
The full list of local authority price caps has not yet been published.
Use our free eligibility calculator to check whether you may qualify for the Your First Home Scheme.
Enter your household income, deposit and property price, then answer a few questions to get an indication of whether you may qualify. The full local authority price-cap list and some eligibility rules are still to come, so we have used regional price caps in the meantime. Results are indicative only and are not a mortgage offer or an application decision.
The scheme has not opened for applications. The calculator uses the criteria announced so far: first-time buyer status, household income limits, property location and price cap, new-build status, main-home use, and the minimum deposit. The full eligibility rules and local authority price caps are still to be published, so the result is an indication only. A participating lender will make its own affordability and credit assessment.
Want to know what first time buyer mortgage options are available now? Get fee-free advice from the expert advisers at Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Get fee-free mortgage advice from the award-winning expert advisers at Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Please note some branches of Mortgage Advice Bureau may charge a fee for mortgage advice if you go direct. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed. So make sure you use this site, this form or phone number for fee-free advice.
Your actual costs will depend on the home you buy, the mortgage rate you are offered and your circumstances. The equity loan is interest-free for the first five years. The announced rates are 1.5% in year six and 3% from year seven. Interest is charged separately from your mortgage and does not reduce the amount of equity loan you owe.
Applications are not open yet.
Customer pre-registration and guidance are expected by the end of December 2026.
Pre-registration will not commit you to buying through the scheme; it is intended to provide further information about eligibility and the price cap for your area.
Applications are expected to open in February 2027, with the first property sales expected in April 2027.
The government will publish full guidance, terms and conditions before applications open.
However, some buyers are already putting their plans on hold while they wait for the scheme to launch.
Jeremy Leaf, founder of North London estate agency Jeremy Leaf & Co and former RICS Residential Chair, said: “The biggest issue from a property perspective is the delay in the launch of Your First Home. It won’t be introduced until the spring yet already we have would-be first-time buyers delaying their plans to buy a home until the scheme is available. Why would you buy now if you think you can save money later?”
The equity loan will normally be repaid when you sell your home. You will also be able to repay some or all of it before selling. The loan is linked to your home’s value: if it represented 20% of the purchase price, you will normally repay 20% of the home’s value at the time of repayment, based on an independent valuation. The amount to repay can therefore rise or fall with the property’s value.
The government says it will publish further repayment guidance before applications open, including minimum repayment amounts, valuation requirements, fees and how repayment works when selling or remortgaging.
The government will provide the equity loans under the Your First Home Scheme, while participating housebuilders will also be required to contribute towards the cost of the scheme.
This means not every new-build home will necessarily be available through Your First Home. Buyers will need to choose a property from a developer taking part in the scheme.
Developers of all sizes will be able to participate, subject to meeting the scheme requirements and signing a participation agreement. Fees based on the final sale price will apply to homes sold through the scheme. The rates apply progressively: 1% on a developer’s first 100 scheme sales each year, 3% on sales 101 to 250, and 4% on sales above 250. The government says these fees will help cover the scheme’s running costs.
The government has allocated £4.7 billion over five years: £700 million in 2027 to 2028 and £1 billion in each of the following four years. It says it will work with developers to manage funding allocation and keep demand under review.
Housebuilder Bellway has welcomed the proposed scheme, saying it could increase the number of homes it builds by around 10%, although it warned some first-time buyers may delay purchases while waiting for the scheme to launch.
The Your First Home has clear similarities with the former Help to Buy equity loan scheme, which closed to new applicants in 2022 and completed its final purchases in 2023.
Both schemes are designed to help first time buyers in England purchase new-build homes using a government-backed equity loan alongside a mortgage and deposit.
However, there are some key differences between the Your First Home Scheme and the Help to Buy equity loan scheme and it is too early to say whether it is a direct replacement.
| Scheme | Your First Home Scheme | Help to Buy Equity Loan (2021-2023) |
| Property | New build from participating developer | New build from participating developer |
| Minimum deposit | 2.5% | 5% |
| Government equity loan | 20% | Up to 20% (40% in London) |
| Equity loan interest-free period | 5 years | 5 years |
| Income cap | Yes – £110,000 outside London; £140,000 within London | No |
| Property price cap | Yes – local caps will apply | Regional caps applied |
So while Your First Home is being described as a Help to Buy-style scheme, there are significant differences. In particular, the proposed deposit is smaller and household income caps will apply. More differences may emerge when the full rules are published.
Read more about the former Help to Buy equity loan scheme.
No. Your First Home and the First Homes Scheme are two different first time buyer schemes in England.
Your First Home will use a government-backed equity loan, while the First Homes Scheme offers eligible first-time buyers homes at a discount of at least 30% compared with market value. It primarily covers new-build homes, although qualifying First Homes can also be resold under the scheme rules.
This discount stays with the property when it is sold, so each eligible future buyer also purchases it at the relevant discount to market value.
The First Homes Scheme is open to first-time buyers in England. Purchasers must also have a household income of less than £80,000 (or £90,000 in London). Local authorities have some flexibility over other elements of the qualifying criteria.
There is also a price cap. First Homes Scheme properties cannot cost more than £250,000 (or £420,000 in London) after the discount has been applied. Local authorities can set lower local caps, but cannot increase them.
However, First Homes Scheme properties are in very short supply. Find out more in our guide First Homes Scheme.
Get fee-free mortgage advice from the award-winning expert advisers at Mortgage Advice Bureau.
* Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Please note some branches of Mortgage Advice Bureau may charge a fee for mortgage advice if you go direct. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed. So make sure you use this site, this form or phone number for fee-free advice.
Our CEO Paula Higgins commented on the announcement,
“Any support that helps first-time buyers overcome the huge barriers to homeownership is welcome. It is encouraging to see the government recognise the pressure facing younger people who want a home of their own.
“Our latest 2026 HomeOwner Survey found that affordability is the biggest barrier for those wanting to buy their first home: 42% said lower deposits would help.
“But a very small deposit also comes with real risks. Buyers need to be certain they can comfortably afford the monthly mortgage payments, not just get through the front door. Borrowing heavily can leave homeowners more exposed if house prices fall, particularly where they have paid a new-build premium. And risks could be compounded for those buying leasehold flats. That raises the risk of negative equity, making it harder to remortgage or move.”
Paula went on to comment that,
Our worry is that a 20% interest-free loan restricted to new-build homes will steer buyers towards those properties, increasing demand and potentially prices. That risks creating a two-tier market, particularly in London, where many flat owners are already facing falling values and struggling to sell. The scheme must not help one group of buyers at the expense of people who already own a home.
With first time buyers being pointed towards new builds, quality and protection must be built in from day one. That’s why HomeOwners Alliance is joining the New Homes Quality Board and the New Homes Ombudsman Service in calling for clear quality standards and access to an independent ombudsman to be conditions for every developer taking part in Your First Home. The government must also introduce its promised statutory new-build quality code without delay. Buyer protection must be built in from day one.“
In October 2026, Paula signed an open letter organised by the New Homes Quality Board alongside developers, industry bodies and politicians. Published in The Telegraph on 26 October, it called for quality standards and independent ombudsman access to be conditions of developers’ participation in the Your First Home Scheme. Read more about our campaign for better quality new build homes.
Our Mortgage Expert Sarah Tucker commented,
“It’s really positive to see the deposit barrier being tackled head on. A 2.5% deposit alongside a potential 20% equity loan could make a huge difference to first-time buyers who can afford the monthly payments but simply can’t save quickly enough to get there.
“The further detail on local property price caps will be critical. Alongside the innovation we’re already seeing from mortgage lenders, this could open the door for a lot more aspiring homeowners.”
The Your First Home Scheme could make it easier for some first time buyers to get onto the property ladder, but there are potential drawbacks too.
While the Your First Home Scheme could offer new help for first-time buyers, there are different ways that it may be possible for you to get a mortgage with a small or even no deposit.
For example:
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Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Please note some branches of Mortgage Advice Bureau may charge a fee for mortgage advice if you go direct. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed. So make sure you use this site, this form or phone number for fee-free advice.
It will depend on your circumstances. A lower deposit can bring homeownership closer, but it does not make a home cheaper overall. Buyers should consider the full mortgage payment, likely future interest rates, service charges, insurance, maintenance and the terms of the equity loan.
There are a number of no deposit mortgage schemes, 1% deposit schemes and other help for first-time buyers that may be more appropriate for you. Speak to a fee-free mortgage broker and they can talk you through the range of options.
Get fee-free mortgage advice from the award-winning expert advisers at Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Please note some branches of Mortgage Advice Bureau may charge a fee for mortgage advice if you go direct. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed. So make sure you use this site, this form or phone number for fee-free advice.
The Your First Home scheme is a demand-side measure. It may help some buyers access new-build homes that are already being built, and could improve confidence for developers to start more schemes. But it is not a substitute for building enough genuinely affordable homes in the places people need them.
Official data shows new-build starts in England rose by 15% in the year to June 2026, to 136,330. In the second quarter alone, starts were 20% higher than a year earlier. But the government is still a long way from hitting its pledge to deliver 1.5 million additional homes in England over this Parliament.
No. Pre-registration is expected to open by the end of 2026, but the government has not yet announced the full application process.
Your First Home has many similarities with the former Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, including the use of a government-backed equity loan to buy a new-build home. However, there are important differences and the government has not described it as a direct replacement.
The proposed minimum deposit is 2.5%. So on a £300,000 home, you would need a deposit of £7,500.
No. The scheme announced by the government is for first-time buyers purchasing eligible new-build homes in England.
Eligible properties are expected to be new-build homes from developers signed up to the scheme. Participating developers and properties have not yet been announced.
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