What schemes are currently available for first-time buyers?
The UK government and the devolved administrations run a number of programmes aimed at making homeownership easier to reach. Some cut the amount you need to save. Others bring down the purchase price, and a few pay a bonus straight into your deposit savings.
Which schemes you can use comes down to where you are buying, the price of the property, and your own circumstances. Here is a closer look at each one.
First Homes scheme: discounted new builds in England
First Homes is an England-only scheme that sells new-build properties at a discount of at least 30%, and sometimes as much as 50%, off the market price. That discount is tied to the property and passes on to whoever buys it next, so the home stays affordable well into the future.
To qualify you need to be a first-time buyer aged 18 or over, with a household income of £80,000 or less, or £90,000 if you are buying in London. Some local councils bolt on their own rules too, such as giving priority to key workers or people with a local connection.
Lifetime ISA: a government bonus on your savings
The Lifetime ISA, or LISA, lets you put away up to £4,000 a year towards your first home, and the government adds a 25% bonus on top of that, worth up to £1,000 a year. For building a deposit faster, it is one of the most straightforward tools going.
How the LISA works
- Save up to £4,000 per tax year
- Government adds 25% bonus (max £1,000/year)
- Must be aged 18–39 to open (can contribute until 50)
- Available as cash LISA or stocks & shares LISA
Using it for a property
- Property must cost £450,000 or less
- Must be your first home
- Must be purchased with a mortgage (not cash)
- Account must be open for at least 12 months before withdrawal
Important restrictions
- Withdrawing for any other purpose incurs a 25% penalty (you lose the bonus plus some of your own savings)
- Can’t be used alongside Help to Buy ISA bonus on the same property
- The 12-month minimum means you need to plan ahead
Open one now, even with £1
The 12-month clock starts the day you open the account, not the day you start paying in properly. If a purchase might be a few years off, open a LISA now with a token amount and get the timer running.
Mortgage Guarantee Scheme: 5% deposit mortgages
The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme nudges lenders into offering 95% LTV mortgages by having the government guarantee part of the loan. In practice that means you can buy with a 5% deposit through any lender taking part.
You never apply to the scheme itself. You apply for a 95% LTV mortgage with a participating lender, and the government guarantee sits quietly behind it. The scheme covers properties worth up to £600,000, and it is open to home movers as well as first-time buyers.
Help to Buy equity loan: now closed to new applicants
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme stopped taking new applications in October 2022, and the last completions went through in March 2023. If you already hold a Help to Buy equity loan, you manage it under the scheme’s existing terms.
Already have a Help to Buy loan?
The equity loan is interest-free for the first five years. After that, interest kicks in at 1.75%, and it climbs each year by RPI plus 1%. A lot of Help to Buy borrowers now want to remortgage so they can repay the loan and head off those rising fees. A broker can help you weigh up the options.
Right to Buy: for council tenants
If you rent your home from the council in England, the Right to Buy scheme may let you buy it at a discount. Housing association tenants can sometimes use a similar scheme called Right to Acquire.
The longer you have been a tenant, the bigger the discount. Sell up within five years, though, and you may have to pay back some or all of it. A specialist broker can help you arrange the finance for a Right to Buy purchase.
Regional schemes: Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
The devolved nations run their own homebuying schemes, each with its own eligibility rules.
Scotland has the First Home Fund, a shared equity loan of up to £25,000 towards your purchase, along with the LIFT (Low-cost Initiative for First Time buyers) schemes and the Help to Buy (Scotland) small developer scheme. Wales runs Help to Buy – Wales, a shared equity loan of up to 20% on new-build properties priced up to £300,000. Northern Ireland has Co-Ownership, which works much like Shared Ownership in England.
These schemes change over time, so check the current details on the relevant government website, or ask a broker who covers your region.
Which scheme is right for you?
The right scheme hangs on where you are buying, what you have saved, your income, and the kind of property you are after. A mortgage broker can check your eligibility across every scheme going and point you to the best route for your situation.
At Clearview Mortgage Solutions we help first-time buyers across the UK sort through these schemes every day. Get in touch for a free, no-obligation chat about which ones are open to you.