I’m a first-time buyer looking for a home. What should I know?

From sky-high property prices to chipping distant astatine the deposit fund, getting connected the lodging ladder successful the UK arsenic a first-time purchaser is nary mean feat.

According to figures from Gov UK, the mean spot present costs £282,000 nationwide, a fig that increases to £689,245 successful London.

But determination are inactive ways to get connected the spot ladder amid skyrocketing costs, from considering the powerfulness of shared ownership to making the astir of your Help To Buy ISA oregon Lifetime Individual Savings Account.

There are besides owe deals that’ll spot you fixed up to £5,000 successful cashback for signing, which surely sweetens the bitter outgo of rinsing your savings account.

Looking to get connected the spot ladder soon? Metro chatted to a spot adept astir each the perks first-time buyers successful the UK tin instrumentality vantage of.

Choose a owe woody that offers cashback – and don’t regularisation retired shared ownership

Buying your archetypal location doesn’t needfully mean spending your hard-earned currency connected the deposit, owe and immoderate caller furnishings: immoderate developments volition really pay you to buy.

Take Royal Docks for example, wherever immoderate gathering associations volition connection currency incentives to promote first-time buyers to determination in.

At East River Wharf, determination are £2,000 currency contributions presently connected connection – though buyers volition request to registry their involvement by October 31 to qualify. Just ideate the furnishings you could walk that wealth on. Here, prices commencement astatine £96,875 for a 25% stock of £387,500.

Elsewhere, Aqua Gardens offers a £5,000 cashback of one, 2 and three-bedroom shared ownership homes – but lone if you usage their recommended solicitor and broker, and speech wrong 28 days. The timepiece is ticking!

‘With shared ownership you tin acquisition betwixt 10% to 75% of a spot and you tin summation this stock arsenic and erstwhile you tin spend to, reducing the rent owed successful the process,’ Lomond CEO, Ed Phillips, tells Metro.

‘This method tin beryllium a large mode for first-time buyers to get their archetypal ft connected the ladder successful 1 signifier oregon another. However, it’s important to enactment that the smaller the deposit you spot initially, the much involvement you are apt to wage implicit the beingness of your mortgage.’

Remember you’ll beryllium covered by stamp work onshore taxation relief

This 1 isn’t thing you’ll request to retrieve to do, arsenic it’ll beryllium applied automatically – but it’s a nifty assistance to first-time buyers regardless.

And that’s the stamp work exemption, the aboriginal of which was outlined by chancellor Rachel Reeves arsenic she delivered the Autumn 2024 Budget earlier this week. But however does it work?

‘Stamp work is simply a taxation paid to the authorities by homebuyers and, arsenic it stands, first-time buyers are exempt from paying stamp work connected immoderate acquisition up to £250,000,’ Ed explains.

‘However, arsenic of March adjacent year, this threshold is acceptable to trim to £125,000. It’s besides important to enactment that should you acquisition implicit £6250,000, nary first-time purchaser alleviation is afforded and this threshold falls to £500,000 arsenic of March adjacent year.’

Make usage of your Help To Buy ISA

Saving up for a deposit for your archetypal location tin spot a hefty strain connected your finances – and that’s if you’re capable to negociate it astatine all.

The Help To Buy ISA was technically abolished successful November 2019, but if you successfully applied for 1 earlier then, you’ll beryllium capable to usage immoderate wealth you’ve enactment into it to bargain your archetypal location until December 2030.

‘The Help to Buy ISA has since been replaced by the Lifetime Individual Savings Account and if utilising it to signifier a savings pot, you tin past usage your savings connected purchases of homes up to £450,000 – arsenic agelong arsenic you’re aged 18 to 39,’ Ed explains.

‘You tin put up to £4,000 a twelvemonth with the authorities topping up your savings by 25%.’

…as good arsenic the First Home Scheme & Deposit Unlock Scheme

The LISA strategy isn’t the lone 1 to instrumentality enactment of, though. There’s besides the First Home Scheme, which arsenic Ed explains, ‘supports section first-time buyers and cardinal workers to get a ft connected the ladder with discounts of 30% compared to marketplace price.’

Likewise, determination are schemes successful spot to assistance trim the archetypal outgo of a deposit (which is comparatively hefty, considering that, according to Zoopla, successful 2023 the mean was £34,500).

As Ed tells us, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme is ‘aimed astatine expanding the proviso of 5% deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households by supporting lenders done authorities backed guarantees connected 95% mortgages and is owed to tally to 30th June 2025.’

Take retired a beingness security policy

And finally, erstwhile it comes to buying a location for the archetypal time, you’ll request to see taking retired a beingness security argumentation if you haven’t done truthful already.

While this isn’t ever a ineligible request for getting connected the ladder, it mightiness springiness you (and your partner, if you’re buying arsenic a couple) bid of mind, arsenic good arsenic a consciousness of fiscal protection.

As Legal and General constituent out, immoderate lenders see having a beingness security argumentation a ‘precondition’ for qualifying for a mortgage.

‘If you ain a property, a owe is apt to beryllium the biggest indebtedness you permission down should the worst happen, truthful having a argumentation successful spot tin assistance springiness you bid of mind,’ their website reads.

‘If you person children, a partner, oregon different dependents surviving with you who trust connected you financially, taking retired owe beingness security could beryllium considered [an] important expenditure.’

Do you person a communicative to share?

Get successful interaction by emailing [email protected].

MORE : A antheral is renting the nook nether his stairs for £192 a month

MORE : £900,000 location wherever each partition is simply a reflector has everyone saying the aforesaid thing

MORE : Landlords are moving radical – and we supply an indispensable service

This tract is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.