Buying your first UK home — every guide you need

The minimum on a 95% mortgage is 5% of the property price (so £14,250 on a £285,000 home), but the lower the deposit, the more expensive the rate. Most buyers aim for 10% to unlock a meaningfully better rate, and 15–20% to access the best fixed-rate deals on the market. See the full breakdown in our mortgage deposit guide.

As a rule of thumb, UK lenders cap borrowing at 4 to 4.5 times your annual gross income, with a few specialist lenders going to 5x or 5.5x for high earners. They will also stress-test affordability against a higher interest rate — so the headline figure is rarely what you can actually borrow. Our how much can I borrow guide walks through the maths.

The current scheme stack is Shared Ownership (buy 25–75% of a home, pay rent on the rest), the Lifetime ISA (25% government bonus on up to £4,000 per year of savings), First Homes (30–50% discount on new builds for local first-time buyers) and the 95% Mortgage Guarantee scheme. Help to Buy Equity Loan closed to new applicants in 2023. Full details in our first-time buyer scheme guide.

A fixed-rate mortgage locks your interest rate for a set period (2, 5 or 10 years are typical) — your monthly payment cannot change. A tracker follows the Bank of England base rate plus a margin, so payments rise and fall with the BoE decisions. Fixed gives certainty; tracker can be cheaper when rates are falling. Full comparison in our mortgage types guide.

Yes — in England, council tenants of at least three years can buy their home at a discount of up to £102,400 (£136,400 in London), capped at 70% of the value. Wales scrapped Right to Buy in 2019 and Scotland in 2016. Read our Right to Buy guide for the eligibility rules and how to apply.

From accepted offer to completion, the UK average in 2026 is around 22–28 weeks. Local searches account for 4–8 of those, the mortgage offer 3–6, and chains can add weeks more. Cash buyers regularly complete in 6–8 weeks. Our step-by-step buying guide covers each milestone.