Your First Home scheme conveyancing

Saving a deposit is the biggest hurdle for most first-time buyers. Your First Home is a government scheme that lets you buy a new build home in England with a 2.5% deposit, backed by a government equity loan covering 20% of the price.

Below we explain who can use it, how buying through the scheme works and what your conveyancer will check along the way.

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Your First Home is a government-backed equity loan scheme for first-time buyers in England. It's designed for people who can afford monthly mortgage payments but haven't been able to save a large deposit.

It works in three parts:

• Your deposit: at least 2.5% of the purchase price
• The equity loan: 20% of the price, lent by the government and interest-free for an initial period
• Your mortgage: the remaining 77.5% from a standard lender

Because the equity loan covers a fifth of the price, your mortgage is smaller than it would be with a 95% mortgage. The government says this could save buyers hundreds of pounds a month.

The scheme only applies to new build homes sold by developers who have signed up to it. Developers pay a fee to take part, which helps fund the scheme.

Is it the new Help to Buy?

It's too early to say. Your First Home works in a similar way to the Help to Buy equity loan, which closed to new buyers in 2022, as both use a government loan on new builds. The differences we know about so far are a lower minimum deposit (2.5% rather than 5%), a 20% loan everywhere (Help to Buy offered up to 40% in London) and income caps aimed at buyers without family help.

Is it the same as the First Homes scheme?

No. First Homes gives eligible buyers a discount of 30% to 50% off the market value, and that discount stays with the property forever. Your First Home doesn't discount the price. It lends you part of it instead, and you buy the home at its full market value.

Based on what the government has confirmed so far, you'll need to:

• Be a first-time buyer
• Be buying in England
• Be buying a new build home from a developer signed up to the scheme
• Have a household income below the scheme's income cap
• Be buying a home priced below the local price cap for your area
• Put down a deposit of at least 2.5%
• Get a mortgage for the rest of the price

The income and price caps are there to target the scheme at buyers who can't rely on family help for a deposit. We'll add the figures as soon as they're published.

Still to be confirmed at the Budget:

• The income cap and price cap figures
• How long the interest-free period lasts and what you pay after it
• When and how the equity loan is repaid
• The date you can complete a purchase using the scheme
• Whether there are rules on remortgaging, letting or selling your home
• Which developers and mortgage lenders will take part

Buying in Wales? Your First Home doesn't cover Wales. Help to Buy - Wales is open until 31 March 2027. [Editor: swap the en dash for a hyphen or rephrase if the official name is styled differently on gov.wales]

Buying through Your First Home will follow the same path as a standard purchase, with a few extra steps for the equity loan. Here's how we expect it to run, based on how equity loan schemes have worked before. We'll confirm the details once the scheme rules are published.

1. Pre-register for the scheme. Pre-registration is expected to open by the end of 2026. Registering early should help you check you qualify before you start looking.
2. Get a mortgage in principle. Your lender will base this on 77.5% of the purchase price. A broker can tell you which lenders offer mortgages alongside the scheme.
3. Find a new build from a participating developer. Only developers signed up to the scheme can sell homes through it. You'll usually pay a reservation fee to secure the plot.
4. Instruct your conveyancer. Do this as soon as you reserve. New build reservations often come with deadlines to exchange, so an early start helps you hit them. [Button: Get your quote]
5. Apply for the equity loan and your mortgage. The equity loan application runs alongside your mortgage application. We'll add details of how to apply once they're published.
6. Legal work. Your conveyancer carries out the legal checks set out further down this page before you sign anything.
7. Exchange and completion. Your conveyancer coordinates your deposit, mortgage and equity loan funds so they all arrive on completion day, and you get the keys. As with Help to Buy, we expect the equity loan to be secured against your home.

Worked example

Here's how a £300,000 new build could be paid for under the scheme, compared with a standard 95% mortgage.

*Illustration only, at 4.5% over 30 years on a repayment basis. In practice a 77.5% mortgage is likely to get a lower rate than a 95% one, so the gap could be bigger. Your rate will depend on your lender.

That's half the deposit and around £266 a month less on your mortgage while the equity loan is interest-free. Remember the equity loan still has to be repaid, and you may pay interest on it once the interest-free period ends.

Stamp duty

First-time buyers pay no stamp duty on the first £300,000 of a home costing up to £500,000, and 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000. Stamp duty is worked out on the full purchase price, including the part covered by the equity loan. In the example above, you'd pay nothing.

Read our guide to stamp duty to see what you'd pay.

Conveyancing fees

You'll pay for your conveyancing, searches and disbursements, as with any purchase. With Homeward Legal you get a fixed legal fee quoted up front, and under our No Completion No Fee policy you won't pay the conveyancer's legal fees if your purchase falls through. A fee to secure this is included in your quote and can be held for your next purchase or refunded.

Other costs to budget for

• Your reservation fee to the developer (usually deducted from the price on completion)
• Mortgage arrangement and valuation fees
• Any scheme administration fees
• A snagging survey on your new build before completion [Editor: link to the right Surveyor Local page or remove]
• Moving costs

Not sure how much you need to save? Check our deposit guide for first-time buyers.

A small deposit leaves less room for surprises, so on top of the usual searches your conveyancer will check:

• The scheme: that the developer is signed up and the home qualifies
• The equity loan: your repayment terms and what happens when you sell or remortgage
• The developer's contract: the completion deadline, build delays and the new build warranty
• The lease and charges: ground rent, service charges and estate fees on flats and leasehold homes
• Building safety: cladding and fire safety on flats (see our Building Safety Act page)
• Your mortgage offer: any down-valuation, flagged before you exchange

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Whether you're just starting to explore the First Homes Scheme or you've already received your Eligibility Certificate, Homeward Legal is here to help.

Call us on and our friendly team will be happy to help, or fill in the form below for an instant quote.