Top tips for saving for your first home

  1. Open a lifetime ISA. Lifetime ISAs are the ultimate house-buying hack for first-time buyers because the government pays in when you do*.
  2. Search for 'First Home Schemes'. Properties that are part of this scheme are offered to first-time buyers at a discount (between 30% and 50% less than their market value!)
  3. Speak to a mortgage adviser. A professional will be able to tell you about the best mortgage deals out there at the time you're looking, including special offers for first-time buyers.
  4. Consider a shared ownership scheme. Also known as 'part buy, part rent', this is where you buy a percentage of the property and pay rent on the rest.
  5. Get started. The sooner you start putting money aside for a deposit, the sooner you can start booking some viewings!

Find out more about speeding up the buying process

*The government pays in 25% of whatever you pay in. As you can pay in up to £4,000 within a tax year, the government will contribute up to £1,000 a year.

Did you know?

With a lifetime ISA, you can save a house deposit 25% quicker!

Find out how

Start building your deposit with a lifetime ISA

Use our calculator to see how a lifetime ISA could speed up the time it takes to save your first home deposit

The lifetime ISA calculator shows how your lifetime ISA could grow with low, medium and high performance, plus the government bonus. But projections are not a guarantee of future performance and you could get back less than you pay in.

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£
+

Lower performance

After 5 years
You've invested �2,200
Government bonus �500

Projected value

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5 years
+

Higher performance

What do these numbers mean?

Please note: No more than £4,000 may be invested into a Lifetime ISA within a single tax year. This includes your initial investment and your monthly direct debit payments.

Where should I buy my first home?

Thinking about moving to a new area?

Every year, our index ranks the UK's towns and cities with over 200,000 residents on a range of factors including average salary, rent, property prices, commuting costs and overall quality of life.

Top five places to live and work in the UK (2023 rankings):

  1. Norwich
  2. Liverpool and Edinburgh
  3. London
  4. Cardiff
  5. Bristol