Opinion and guidance

First time buyer schemes to help you make your move

With the end of Help to Buy in England and economic uncertainty making the homebuying journey that much more challenging, it’s important to acknowledge that there are still options out there for first time buyers.

First time buyer schemes

Buying schemes can make a huge impact when it comes to buying your first home. Here are some of the options you could explore to help you get on the property ladder.

The First Homes Scheme

The First Homes Scheme is an initiative designed for local first time buyers and key workers and offers new build homes at a 30% discount on market prices. It is only available in England and participating homes must be a new home or an existing home that was originally bought as part of the scheme.

Mortgage Guarantee Scheme

Launched in April 2021, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme is designed to support first time buyers buy their homes with a 5% deposit. Under this scheme, the government offers your lender a financial guarantee, which means they can offer you a 95% mortgage, subject to the typical affordability checks, on a house worth up to £600,000.

It was originally meant to close at the end of 2022 but as it’s already helped over 24,000⁴ households, the deadline has been extended to December 2023.

Shared Ownership

Considering the average price of a home in the UK sits at around £281,684⁵, it’s fair to say that paying for your first home is no walk in the park. The Shared Ownership Scheme aims to make this a little easier by allowing first time buyers to buy a share of a property (usually between 25-75%) and pay rent on the outstanding amount.

Over time, you can buy additional shares in the property until you own it outright.

Deposit Unlock

Deposit Unlock was launched by the Home Builders Federation and major housing developers to enable first time buyers and existing homeowners to buy a new build with a 5% deposit.

Developer deposit contributions

Many new build housing developers are offering buying incentives to help first time buyers secure their first homes. The incentives available depend on the housing developer and sometimes the development and/or homes themselves.

Some of the incentives on offer include legal fees paid, contributions to mortgage deposits, mortgage payments paid for a limited time.

Help to Buy Wales

While Help to Buy has already ended in England, the Help to Buy scheme is continuing in Wales. The scheme’s threshold will increase in April 2023 to £300,000.

How to find help buying your first home

Buying your first home can feel overwhelming, and while there are plenty of options out there to make the journey a little easier, it’s hard to know what is going to best suit your circumstances.

Mortgage Advice Bureau’s advisers are on hand to help make the process a little easier by offering tailored, bespoke advice and guiding you through the mortgage process.

This information was contributed to by our friends at Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB). MAB is one of the UK’s leading consumer  intermediary brands, winning more than 200 awards for the quality of its advice and service. MAB has more than 2,000 advisers offering expert mortgage, protection and general insurance advice on a local, regional, and national level to consumers, both face to face and over the phone.