Your journey to
the front door.
Buying your first home happens in six stages, over weeks and months — not one afternoon. This is a passport you return to as you go: real guidance for each stage, a checklist to work through, and a stamp to mark each one done. Come back any time and pick up where you left off.
0 of 6 stamps collected
Save the deposit
The deposit is the foundation of everything that follows. Most lenders want at least 5% of the price, and a bigger deposit usually means a lower rate. A Lifetime ISA can add a government bonus while you save. It's also the moment to get your finances lender-ready — a clean credit file and steady accounts make every later stage easier.
The longest stage, and the most variable — it depends on your target, income and area. Source: industry average.
Agreement in Principle
An Agreement in Principle (sometimes a Decision in Principle) is a lender's early indication of what they'd lend you, based on a light credit check. It isn't a formal offer, but estate agents take offers far more seriously when you have one. This is where a broker earns their keep — matching you to a lender whose criteria actually fit your situation.
Often same-day once a broker has your details. Source: lender industry average.
Find the property
With an Agreement in Principle in hand you can search and offer with confidence. Separate your must-haves from your nice-to-haves, research the area as hard as the property, and check the tenure — a leasehold flat carries costs and questions a freehold house doesn't. When you find it, your offer usually goes in through the estate agent — for a private sale, you'll deal with the seller or their solicitor directly.
Highly personal — some buyers offer in a fortnight, others search for a year. Source: industry average.
Legal & survey
Offer accepted. Now the conveyancing and survey work begins — and this is usually the longest stage of the whole purchase. Your solicitor handles searches and contracts while your surveyor checks the property's condition and your lender runs its valuation. The single biggest thing you can do to keep it moving is answer enquiries quickly.
The conveyancing stage — the single biggest driver of how long a purchase takes overall. Source: HomeOwners Alliance / conveyancing industry average.
Mortgage offer
Once the valuation and underwriting are done, the lender issues a formal mortgage offer — the binding commitment to lend. This runs alongside the legal work rather than after it. Read the offer carefully, note its expiry date, and make sure buildings insurance is arranged to start from the day you exchange.
Runs alongside the legal work rather than after it. Source: UK Finance / lender industry average.
Completion
The final stretch: exchange, then completion. At exchange, contracts are swapped, your deposit is paid and the dates are legally fixed. On completion day the money moves, the property becomes yours, and you collect the keys. After months of saving and paperwork, this is the part worth celebrating.
Exchange fixes the dates; completion is when the keys are yours. Source: industry average.
The true cost of buying
The deposit is only part of it. Enter your purchase price for a figure tailored to your own home — the fees and extras most guides leave out.
Typical example: £4,450 for a £300,000 home.
Only nudges the survey guidance — never the price. Any property can benefit from a fuller survey.
This is a guide to typical costs, not formal advice or a quote. Your actual figures depend on your lender, solicitor and survey choices.
Enter a price above for your own figure. Or open the stamp duty calculator →
Save your passport
Buying a home takes weeks. Email yourself a private link and pick up exactly where you left off — on your phone, your laptop, whenever you're ready.
Know someone just starting out?
Common questions
How long does it take to buy a first home?
Once you've found a property and had an offer accepted, the legal, survey and mortgage work commonly takes a few months, with the conveyancing stage the main driver of how long it takes. Saving the deposit beforehand is usually far longer and varies enormously by circumstances.
What deposit do I need as a first-time buyer?
Many lenders accept a deposit from around 5% of the property price, though a larger deposit can give you access to more deals and often lower rates. What's realistic depends on your circumstances — we can tell you where you stand.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty?
First-time buyers qualify for relief that reduces or removes Stamp Duty Land Tax below a set threshold, with a reduced rate above it up to a cap. Thresholds are set by the government and change from time to time — use our stamp duty calculator for a current figure.
Is my progress saved?
Only if you choose to save it. By default this page stores nothing — no cookies, and nothing in your browser. Tick “keep my progress on this device” and your completed stages, checklist ticks, price and property type are saved in your browser alone, and unticking it deletes them. If you email yourself a resume link, we also store that progress and your email address on our servers so the link works on another device; anyone who has the link can open your passport. When the link opens your passport, we take it out of your address bar and our analytics tools don’t record it, so if you reload the page, open the link from your email again to bring your saved progress back. Your email address is used to send that link; we only contact you about your mortgage if you tick the separate box asking us to. We keep it for 12 months after your last visit, or until you ask us to delete it — to do that, email info@lawesfinancial.com.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.