Buying your home is an exciting experience, but it can also be a daunting process during which you will need expert help and advice.
Our news and advice section contains information from industry experts, buyers who’ve used our schemes and the latest news about government support.
Residents in social and affordable housing are being given the chance to buy a share in their home for the first time, as applications can now be made to for the government’s Right to Shared Ownership scheme. The government has published new guidance for tenants to access the scheme, which provides an alternative pathway to […]
The mortgage guarantee scheme has been extended by a year to the end of December 2023, helping more people with 5% deposits onto the property ladder. Under the scheme, the government offers lenders the financial guarantees they need to provide mortgages that cover the other 95% of a home purchase, subject to the usual affordability […]
The Forces Help to Buy scheme has been made permanent as part of the Government’s enduring commitment to supporting our Armed Forces (19 December 2022). The scheme enables Serving Personnel to borrow up to 50% of their gross annual salary (up to a maximum of £25,000) to encourage and support home ownership and enable the […]
A new scheme to help people make their dream of building their first home a reality opened for applications on Monday 27 June. Help to Build makes taking a first step onto the housing ladder by building your own home a realistic option, even with a smaller deposit. Applicants can borrow an equity loan of […]
A new government scheme to help people in England to custom and self build their own homes opens for applications on Monday 27 June 2022. Help to Build – backed by £150 million government funding –can make building a home a more realistic option, even for people with a small deposit. Applicants can borrow an […]
The Prime Minister has pledged (9 June) to change welfare rules so that the 1.5 million people who are in work but also on housing benefit will be given the choice to use their benefit towards a mortgage, rather than automatically going directly to private landlords and housing associations. The welfare system exists as a […]
The Prime Minister has announced (9 June) that the government will launch an independent review of access to mortgage finance for first-time buyers, with the aim of making it easier for this group by widening access to low-cost, low-deposit finance such as 95% mortgages. Currently, soaring house prices, stringent mortgage lending restrictions and high deposit […]
Over 350,000 young people and families have been helped into homeownership with Help to Buy since its launch in 2013. The major milestone was reached as the official Help to Buy statistics were published on 11 May 2022. The statistics show: 355,634 properties have been bought with a Help to Buy: Equity Loan since its […]
Future homebuyers will see their prospective property bills reduce from 30 June 2022, when the government’s ban on charging ground rent on new leases in England and Wales comes into force. The government is taking action to rid future homeowners of annual costs – known as ground rent. Sometimes worth hundreds of pounds a year, […]