Housing

FirstBuy

FirstBuy is a home ownership scheme announced in the 2011 Budget to help first time buyers who are struggling to get onto the property ladder due to the need for larger deposits.

FirstBuy will see Government and housebuilders together providing around £400 million to help almost 10,500 first time buyers to purchase a new build home in England by Spring 2013.

The scheme provides a 20 per cent equity loan to top up first-time buyers' own deposit of five per cent. This will allow purchasers to take out a mortgage for 75 per cent of the property. The loan is repaid when the property is resold and there is no fee on the loan for the first five years.

The first homes are now available for purchase.

Households with an income of less than £60,000, who do not own a property and cannot afford to buy without assistance are eligible to apply.

Serving and recently retired members of the Armed Forces are in the top priority category for assistance through FirstBuy.

Those interested in buying their home through FirstBuy should contact their local HomeBuy agent (external link).

The Government has organised two First Time Buyers Summits to explore further ways of helping First Time Buyers. 

Further information

  • The Homes and Communities Agency (external link) website provides information about the delivery and funding of FirstBuy.
  • The Directgov (external link) website has information for first-time buyers interested in registering for the scheme as well as details of local HomeBuy agents.

You may also be interested in …

On this site

On other sites

Your right to buy

There's a new window of opportunity. Find out whether you're eligible and what steps you should take to own your home.

Have your say

My favourites