Your First Home

That multiple is the starting point, not the answer. Lenders then assess affordability against your actual commitments — credit cards, car finance, loans, childcare — so two households on identical incomes can be offered very different amounts. Where you land depends on your income shape, your outgoings and which lender is approached. It is worth knowing the figure before you start viewing rather than after an offer is accepted.

There is a rough guide on our mortgage calculator.

An agreement in principle — also called a mortgage in principle or a decision in principle — is a lender's initial indication of what it would lend you, based on a credit check and the figures you give. It is not a guarantee and not an offer: the full application assesses income, outgoings, credit history and the property itself. What it does is make your offer credible to an estate agent and give you a budget you can rely on. Getting one from the right lender matters, because the wrong one leaves a credit footprint for nothing.

From first conversation to a mortgage offer is typically 2–6 weeks depending on the lender and how straightforward the case is. Completion then depends on the legal work, the survey and the chain — a first-time buyer with no chain below them is usually the fastest party in the transaction. We give a realistic timeline up front rather than an optimistic one, and keep you informed without you needing to chase.

Taking out new credit before or during the application — a car finance agreement signed between the agreement in principle and the offer can change what a lender will lend. Changing jobs, or applying inside a probation period, when the timing was often movable. Not being on the electoral roll at your current address, which is a five-minute fix that affects how a lender verifies you. A gifted deposit with no gift letter and no clear paper trail, which stalls the case at exactly the wrong moment. Budgeting for the deposit but not for stamp duty, legal fees and a survey. And withdrawing from a Lifetime ISA for anything other than a qualifying first home, which costs 25% of the amount withdrawn — more than the bonus that was paid in.

Track your own progress with the first-time buyer passport.

A smaller deposit means a higher loan-to-value, and lenders price and assess the top bands more cautiously, so both the number of lenders and the number of products are smaller at 95% than at 90% or 85%. It is still a route plenty of first-time buyers take. If you are close to a band — 8% saved, say — it is worth knowing what reaching 10% would open up before you decide, because the difference is often more than it looks.

Most lenders accept a deposit gifted by a close family member. What they need is a signed letter from the giver confirming it is a gift rather than a loan, that they retain no interest in the property, and that they are not a party to the mortgage — plus evidence of where the money came from. Lenders differ on who counts as a close family member and on whether they will accept a gift from someone else entirely, which is one of the things worth checking before an offer rather than after. Start the paper trail early; a gift that lands in your account the week of the application is the one that causes delay.

A Lifetime ISA lets you pay in up to £4,000 a year and the government adds a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 a year. To use it for a first home the property must cost £450,000 or less, you must be buying with a mortgage, a conveyancer or solicitor must handle the purchase and receive the funds directly, and you must buy at least 12 months after your first payment in. You can open one before you are 40 and pay in until you are 50. Taking money out for anything else costs 25% of the amount withdrawn — which is more than the bonus you were given, so it can leave you with less than you paid in. Figures from gov.uk, checked 30 September 2026.

The rules in full are on gov.uk.

These go by several names — guarantor, family assist, family deposit, joint borrower sole proprietor — and they work differently from each other. In some, a family member's savings are held by the lender as security for a period. In others, a charge is taken over their property. In joint borrower sole proprietor arrangements a parent is on the mortgage but not on the title, which can matter for stamp duty. All of them place a real obligation on the family member, so they need their own advice as well as yours. Not every lender offers them and the structures vary, so which one fits is a lender-selection question as much as a family one.

Some lenders assess self-employed income on net profit, others on salary and dividends, others on a combination, and the amount each will lend on the same set of accounts can differ substantially. Two years of accounts or SA302s is the usual expectation, and some lenders will consider one year for the right profile. Knowing which approach suits how your income is structured — and which lenders use it — is the difference between a smooth application and an avoidable decline.

Missed payments, a default or a CCJ do not close the door. The impact depends on the severity, the age of the event and whether it has been satisfied, and lenders take genuinely different views of the same file. We would rather assess honestly first, tell you what is worth addressing, and approach a lender we are confident about — than make an application that leaves a footprint for nothing. It is also worth checking your own credit file and the electoral roll before anything else happens, because both are free and both are fixable.

That is what makes it reachable in higher-priced areas: a deposit on a 25% share of a property is far smaller than a deposit on all of it. In exchange you have two ongoing costs rather than one — the mortgage on your share and rent on the part you do not own, usually plus a service charge — and falling behind on the rent can put your home at risk in the same way as falling behind on the mortgage. Buying further shares later is called staircasing, and the rules differ between schemes. Not every lender lends on shared ownership, and leases and scheme terms vary, so it is worth advice specific to the scheme rather than to shared ownership in general.

First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland benefit from stamp duty relief on properties up to £500,000. On the first £300,000 there is no stamp duty, and the rate of 5% applies between £300,001 and £500,000. Above £500,000, standard rates apply without relief. Scotland and Wales have their own systems with different thresholds. We factor stamp duty into the total cost picture so there are no surprises. Figures from gov.uk, checked 30 September 2026.

Work out the figure on our stamp duty calculator.

Conveyancing and searches, a survey or valuation beyond the lender's own, removals, and the first month of everything a home costs to run. Some lenders charge a product or arrangement fee and some do not, and a fee can sometimes buy a lower rate — so the comparison that matters is total cost over the deal, not the headline. Building insurance needs to be in place from exchange, not from completion. None of these individually is large; together they are routinely underestimated.

Shared ownership remains available and can be a practical route in higher-priced areas. A new government scheme, Your First Home, was announced in September 2026. Details are due at the Budget and it isn't open yet — we'll update this page when it launches. Lifetime ISAs, gifted deposits and family-assisted mortgages are all still routes we arrange, and for most first-time buyers one of those matters more than any scheme.

In some more complex cases, an additional broker fee of up to 1% of the loan may apply. The first conversation is always free, and we always confirm your total fee in writing before any work starts. We also receive a procuration fee from the lender, always disclosed in full in your Mortgage Illustration before you make any commitment. Protection advice — life cover, critical illness, income protection — carries no separate fee from us.