If you’re a first-time buyer, you may have spent the a few years saving for a deposit to help you get on the property ladder or perhaps you have a family member willing to gift you the money for your purchase.
Most lenders will ask for a minimum deposit of 5% but the larger your deposit, the better the interest rate you’ll get.
The next step is to find out how much you can borrow so you’ll have a better idea of the type of property you can afford to buy when you start looking for your first home.
As well as saving for your initial deposit, you’ll also need funds to put towards fees such as mortgage arrangement fees, solicitor’s fees, stamp duty and so on.
If you don’t access to a deposit, do not despair! There are other ways to get a mortgage. For example, with a Barclays Family Springboard Mortgage, you can borrow the full purchase price of your home.
There are also several other options including:
Help to Buy
If you’ve managed to save a deposit of at least 5%, you might be able to use the government’s Help to Buy equity scheme.
Under this scheme, the government will pay a further loan of up to 20% – or 40% if you’re in London – to put towards a new-build home.
Shared Ownership
If you’re a first-time buyer, you might be able to take out a shared ownership mortgage.
This means that you’ll take out a mortgage for a certain percentage of a property, and a landlord or housing association will own the rest. You’ll then pay a reduced amount of rent on the value of the property that’s not in your name. You might be able to buy a larger share of the house when you can afford it – this is known as staircasing.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage