News & Insights - First time buyer

The countdown is on to the end of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme

Mortgage affordability tests will be scrapped this summer, the Bank of England has announced.

Soaring house prices mean growing numbers face a tax bill when they buy. First time buyers currently don’t pay any stamp duty on the first £300,000, as long as the property they are buying doesn’t cost more than £500,000. However, house prices have risen by around £100,000 between 2014 and 2022, according to the HomeOwners Alliance, while Stamp Duty bands ha

We've de-bunked nine of the most common mortgage myths that might be putting you off and explain what the real facts are.

The deadline to use the government’s Help to Buy scheme will be 6pm on 31st October 2022, giving first-time buyers less than five months to apply.

Around 10,600 first time buyers were helped onto the property ladder by the mortgage guarantee scheme in the eight months following its launch.

The gap between the cost of owning a home and renting a property is at its widest since 2017, with the costs of owning a home £1,378 cheaper than renting in 2021.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted by a majority of 8-1 to raise the base rate to 0.25%, providing little festive cheer to homeowners.

The number of home moves in the UK reached its highest level in 14 years in the first half of 2021, with more than 265,000 people moving to a new property.

Research by the Yorkshire Building Society shows the pandemic has provided a useful savings boost for first time buyers

Recent weeks have seen the launch of several headline-grabbing two-year fixed rate deals below 1%, but the gap between five and two-year fixes has been narrowing.

Home mover demand is thought to be driven by changing priorities as a result of the pandemic, with many people looking for bigger homes and more outside space.

The Government has begun the roll out of its new ‘First Homes’ scheme, designed to give first time buyers a leg up onto the property ladder by providing discounts on new homes.

The latest Government data highlights the increasing number of new homes with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A or B

Nationwide has launched mortgages which enable first time buyers to borrow more than five times their income when locking into a long-term fixed rate.

The current Help to Buy scheme will be replaced by a new scheme in April, which will only be available to first-time buyers and will impose regional price caps on eligible properties.

It’s been another busy month for the mortgage market, with house price growth showing no sign of slowing.

Demand from property buyers showed no signs of slowing in October, pushing up house prices across all parts of the UK, according to the latest RICS UK Residential survey.

Keyworkers who have helped the UK through Covid-19 have been added to Swansea Building Society’s list of professionals who can benefit from lower mortgage rates.

Homebuyers and those looking to remortgage who want the security of a fixed rate deal may want to act sooner rather than later, as rates have started to tick up in recent weeks.

The government has confirmed it is extending the completion deadline for new homes to help homebuyers whose property purchases have been delayed due to coronavirus.

New homes and planning reforms have been pledged by the government in a bid to “build better homes where people want to live” and boost the UK’s economic recovery post-coronavirus.

The Bank of England left the base rate unchanged at 0.1% in August to support the economy’s recovery from the impact of coronavirus.

House prices jumped by 1.7% in July following the re-opening of the property market after lockdown measures were relaxed.

Until recently there has only been a very limited range of mortgage products available for first time buyers with smaller deposits, but there are now signs of improvement.