Home buying schemes in England: 2026 guide

Buying a home can require careful planning for the deposit, mortgage affordability, taxes and moving costs. This guide compares selected main ways that may help someone buy in England. It separates government purchase schemes from first-time-buyer status, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) relief and Lifetime ISA savings support. It is not a directory of every housing or lender product: Rent to Buy is a separate route designed to help eligible tenants save a deposit.

First-time buyer status, SDLT and Lifetime ISAs

“First-time buyer” is an eligibility description, not a scheme in itself. Its meaning can vary by product. For SDLT first-time-buyer relief, a buyer must not previously have held a major interest in a dwelling anywhere in the world, including through a gift, inheritance or a share. All joint purchasers must qualify and intend the property to be their only or main home. A short lease with less than 21 years remaining when acquired is treated differently, and non-residential ownership alone does not necessarily disqualify someone. The HMRC guidance gives the detailed definition.

SDLT applies in England and Northern Ireland; Wales and Scotland use different property taxes. For a qualifying first-time buyer purchasing an eligible home costing no more than £500,000, the current relief means 0% SDLT on the first £300,000 and 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000. There is no first-time-buyer relief above £500,000. Other circumstances, including the non-resident surcharge and Shared Ownership-specific SDLT choices, can affect the calculation, so use the official residential rates for the transaction.

A Lifetime ISA (LISA) is a tax-advantaged savings account rather than a home-buying scheme. You can open one aged 18 to 39 and must make your first payment before 40. Up to £4,000 of contributions each tax year can receive a 25% government bonus, worth up to £1,000 a year; contributions and bonuses stop at 50.

For a charge-free first-home withdrawal, the home must be in the UK, cost no more than £450,000, be bought with a qualifying mortgage as your main residence, and the account must have been open for at least 12 months from the first contribution. The eligible saver may buy jointly with a non-first-time buyer. A withdrawal is also charge-free from age 60 or in limited terminal-illness circumstances; other withdrawals normally carry a 25% charge, which can leave you with less than you paid in. Check the LISA withdrawal rules before relying on the money. You cannot use both a LISA bonus and a Help to Buy ISA bonus for the same purchase.

Mortgage rates and eligibility depend on the lender, product, deposit and personal circumstances. First-time-buyer status does not itself secure a particular rate or an accepted application.

Shared Ownership

Shared Ownership in England usually lets you buy a leasehold share of a home and pay rent to the provider on the share you do not own. Initial shares are commonly 25% to 75%, although some homes start at 10%. You may fund the share with a mortgage or savings; the deposit is usually calculated against the share being bought, not the full property value.

It is not limited to first-time buyers. Applicants must normally be 18 or over, have household income of no more than £80,000 (£90,000 in London), and be unable to afford a suitable home outright. Former homeowners and some current owners may be eligible, but an existing home normally has to be sold by completion. The property must be the buyer’s main home, and local connection rules may apply. Providers carry out a full affordability assessment.

Budget for more than the mortgage repayment. Costs can include rent on the unsold share, service and estate charges, insurance, and any management, repair or reserve costs that apply under the lease. Rent reviews can increase payments. Read the lease and key information document carefully, including the official guide to Shared Ownership costs, before committing.

You may later buy further shares through staircasing, which reduces the rent on the remaining share. The size of each step, valuation and legal costs, and whether you can reach 100% ownership depend on the lease. Some protected-area homes and other arrangements cap the share that can be bought, so do not assume staircasing will be cost-free or lead to full ownership.

If you sell while you own less than 100%, notify the landlord. Your lease sets its nomination period for finding a buyer—commonly 4, 8 or 12 weeks—and an independent RICS valuation and selling costs apply. A protected-area lease with mandatory buyback can restrict an open-market sale, so check the GOV.UK Shared Ownership selling guidance and your lease.

First Homes

The First Homes scheme is an England scheme for eligible first-time buyers where homes are available. It gives a 30% to 50% discount from market value. After that discount, the first sale price must be no more than £250,000, or £420,000 in London, although a council can set a lower cap.

Every purchaser must be a first-time buyer, the home must be their only or main residence, and a mortgage must fund at least half of the discounted price. Combined gross income in the previous tax year must be no more than £80,000, or £90,000 in London. Local councils can also apply income, local-connection or key-worker priorities, particularly during the initial marketing period.

The discount usually continues when the home is resold: the seller normally sells to an eligible buyer at the same percentage discount against a current independently assessed market value. The council must be notified and a RICS valuation is required. There can be council-approved exceptions allowing an open-market sale, which normally require repayment of the discount percentage from the sale proceeds, subject to proportionate exceptional cases. For example, a 30% discount takes a £200,000 home to £140,000; if a later independent valuation were £400,000, the same discount would make the usual resale price £280,000. This is an illustration, not a forecast. Ask developers, estate agents and the local council about availability and local eligibility; there is no universal national planning quota for First Homes.

Mortgage Guarantee Scheme

The permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme replaced the temporary scheme for new loans from July 2025. It can support eligible first-time buyers and home movers taking a repayment mortgage at 91% to 95% loan-to-value (LTV), so an eligible borrower may have a deposit as low as 5%.

The guarantee is provided to participating lenders, not directly to borrowers. It offers lender loss protection under scheme rules; it does not protect a borrower from mortgage debt or repossession, guarantee an offer, or set a particular interest rate. Eligible loans are sterling first-ranking repayment mortgages for eligible UK residential property, subject to exclusions such as Shared Ownership, buy-to-let, offset and guarantor loans. Lenders still carry out income verification, credit, affordability and stress checks, and their product and property limits apply. There is no separate government application for the buyer.

Right to Buy and Right to Acquire

Right to Buy and Right to Acquire are different rights for qualifying tenants, rather than general first-time-buyer schemes.

Right to Buy usually applies to secure council tenants buying their self-contained only or main home after at least three years of total public-sector tenancy. The years do not have to be consecutive or at the same address. Its percentage discount can reach 70%, but is limited by a regional cash cap and may be reduced by landlord cost-floor rules. The current caps and eligibility details are set out in the Right to Buy discount guidance.

Right to Acquire applies to qualifying housing-association tenants and eligible properties, generally including certain grant-funded homes built or acquired after 31 March 1997 and qualifying council transfers. It also normally requires three years of public-sector tenancy. Unlike Right to Buy, its discount is a fixed amount by area—currently £9,000 to £16,000—rather than a tenure-based percentage discount.

For both routes, selling within five years normally requires tapered repayment of the discount, and selling within ten years normally means first offering the home to the former landlord or another social landlord. The landlord has an eight-week response period. Check the relevant rules before applying, because tenancy and property details matter.

Help to Buy: Equity Loan

Help to Buy: Equity Loan is closed to new applications in England. That does not mean every Help to Buy product has ended: existing Help to Buy ISA holders have separate rules for contributions and bonus claims. This guide does not assume a future replacement scheme will be available.

Choosing an appropriate route

The best starting point is to identify which rules apply to your tenure, prior ownership, deposit, income and preferred property. A mortgage adviser can help you compare suitable mortgage options and understand how a scheme’s costs and lender criteria may affect an application; the final lending decision remains with the lender.