Your First Home scheme calculator
Last checked 28 September 2026
See what a new-build home could cost with the announced 2.5% deposit and 20% equity loan: your deposit, the mortgage you'd need, the monthly payment, stamp duty, and what repaying the loan could cost if house prices rise or fall. Then compare it with an ordinary 5% or 10% deposit mortgage on the same home.
Illustrative only. The scheme's rules (income cap, price caps, interest-free period, fees and repayment terms) are due at the Budget on 28 October 2026, so the deposit and loan percentages are editable. The results are estimates to help you understand the numbers, not a mortgage offer or financial advice. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent to us.
Your numbers
Monthly mortgage payment £903.17
Repayment mortgage. The equity loan itself costs nothing a month during the interest-free period.
- Your deposit
- £5,750
- Government equity loan
- £46,000
- Mortgage needed
- £178,250
- Mortgage loan-to-value
- 77.5%
- Stamp duty (first-time buyer, England)
- £0
- Deposit + stamp duty
- £5,750
- Mortgage interest over the term
- £146,890
- Mortgage ÷ household income
- –
- Year-6 fee if it worked like Help to Buy
- £67.08 a month
What repaying the equity loan could cost later
The loan is a share of your home's value, not a fixed sum. If you repay it after 5 years, you'd repay the same percentage of what the home is worth then. These are illustrations, not forecasts: nobody knows what house prices will do.
| If prices change by | Home worth | Repay the equity loan | Mortgage still owed | Left for you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| −2% a year | £207,902 | £41,580 | £162,489 | £3,832 |
| 0% a year | £230,000 | £46,000 | £162,489 | £21,511 |
| +2% a year | £253,939 | £50,788 | £162,489 | £40,662 |
| +4% a year | £279,830 | £55,966 | £162,489 | £61,375 |
"Left for you" is the home's value minus the equity loan repayment and the mortgage still owed, before selling costs. A figure below zero means negative equity. It ignores any interest or fees on the equity loan, which haven't been announced.
Compared with an ordinary mortgage on the same home
| Option | Deposit | Mortgage | Loan-to-value | Monthly payment | Difference a month | Mortgage ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| With the equity loan | £5,750 | £178,250 | 77.5% | £903.17 | – | – |
| 5% deposit mortgage, no equity loan | £11,500 | £218,500 | 95% | £1,107.11 | £203.94 | – |
| 10% deposit mortgage, no equity loan | £23,000 | £207,000 | 90% | £1,048.84 | £145.67 | – |
"Difference a month" is how much more (or, if negative, less) the ordinary mortgage costs each month than the mortgage alongside the equity loan, before any equity loan fees. Mortgages with smaller deposits often carry higher rates, so try a higher rate in the optional comparison box.
Independent guide. We are not the government, Homes England, a housebuilder or a lender, and this is not an official site for the scheme. Everything here is general information to help you understand it, not financial advice. The scheme's rules are due at the Budget on 28 October 2026.
How the calculator works
- Deposit, loan and mortgage: deposit = price × deposit %; equity loan = price × loan %; the mortgage covers the rest. With 2.5% and 20% the mortgage is 77.5% of the price (HomeOwners Alliance gives the same split).
- Monthly payment: the standard repayment-mortgage formula, with interest charged monthly at a twelfth of the annual rate. For example £100,000 at 4.5% over 30 years is £506.69 a month.
- Stamp duty: England's first-time buyer relief: nothing up to £300,000, 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000, and ordinary rates on the whole price above £500,000 (Stamp Duty rates (GOV.UK)). Stamp duty is worked out on the price of the home, however you pay for it. The Budget could change it.
- Repaying the loan later: the loan is a share of the home's value, so we take the loan % of the future value at each house-price scenario. That's how Help to Buy worked (Repaying a Help to Buy equity loan (GOV.UK)); the new scheme's repayment rules haven't been published.
- Year-6 fee: under Help to Buy, interest started in year 6 at 1.75% a year of the amount originally borrowed, paid monthly, then rose each April (Help to Buy interest and fees (GOV.UK)). We show that figure only as a comparison. The new scheme's fees after its interest-free period haven't been announced.
- Comparison: the same home bought with a 5% or 10% deposit and no equity loan, over the same term.
Worked example
A £230,000 new build, 2.5% deposit, 20% equity loan, 4.5% mortgage over 30 years:
| Deposit (2.5%) | £5,750 |
|---|---|
| Equity loan (20%) | £46,000 |
| Mortgage (77.5%) | £178,250 |
| Monthly mortgage payment | £903.17 |
| Same home, 5% deposit mortgage (£218,500) at 4.5% | £1,107.11 a month |
| Stamp duty (first-time buyer) | £0 |
| Repay the loan after 5 years if prices rise 2% a year | £50,788 |
| Repay the loan after 5 years if prices fall 2% a year | £41,580 |
On the same rate, the mortgage alongside the equity loan costs about £204 a month less than a 5% deposit mortgage. But that saving is before any fees on the equity loan once the interest-free period ends, and you still owe the government 20% of the home's value.
Things the calculator leaves out
- Legal fees, surveys, mortgage arrangement fees and moving costs.
- Any fees or interest on the equity loan after the interest-free period (not announced).
- Whether a lender would actually lend you this amount: lenders set their own affordability checks.
- Service charges and ground rent on flats and some houses.
Getting a real quote
A mortgage broker or lender can tell you what you could actually borrow and at what rate. We don't sell mortgages or pass on your details. Our guide to mortgage brokers explains what a whole-of-market broker does and how to check one is authorised.