Your First Home vs Help to Buy
Last checked 28 September 2026
Your First Home looks a lot like Help to Buy, the equity loan that ran in England from 2013 to 2023: a government loan for part of the price of a new build, interest-free at first, repaid as a share of the home's value. The biggest announced difference is the deposit: 2.5% instead of 5%.
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.
Side by side
| Help to Buy equity loan (England, 2013-2023) | Your First Home (announced 26 Sep 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | 5% | 2.5% |
| Equity loan | Up to 20% of the price; up to 40% in London from February 2016 | 20% of the price; nothing announced about London |
| Mortgage | The rest: 75% with a 5% deposit and 20% loan | The rest: 77.5% with a 2.5% deposit and 20% loan |
| Who could use it | Any buyer from 2013 to 2021; first-time buyers only from April 2021 | First-time buyers |
| Homes | New builds | New builds from developers signed up to the scheme |
| Price cap | £600,000 across England until 2021; regional caps from £186,100 to £600,000 after | Local caps, figures due at the Budget |
| Income cap | Not among the eligibility rules | A household income cap, figure due at the Budget |
| Interest-free | First 5 years | "An initial interest-free period", length not announced |
| After that | 1.75% a year of the amount borrowed in year 6, rising each April (CPI + 2% for 2021-2023 loans, RPI + 1% for earlier ones), plus £1 a month | Not announced |
| Repayment | Same % of market value; on sale, after 25 years, or when the mortgage is paid off; part-repayments of at least 10% | Not announced |
| Developers | Sold through the scheme | Expected to contribute to the cost |
Help to Buy: Help to Buy: Equity Loan (GOV.UK); Help to Buy interest and fees (GOV.UK); Repaying a Help to Buy equity loan (GOV.UK); HomeOwners Alliance guide to Help to Buy 2021-2023; Help to Buy (Wikipedia). Your First Home: the government's announcement (GOV.UK, 26 September 2026); HomeOwners Alliance (28 September 2026).
The deposit: 2.5% instead of 5%
Halving the minimum deposit is the headline change. On a £230,000 home, Help to Buy's 5% was £11,500; the new scheme's 2.5% is £5,750. The trade-off is a bigger mortgage: 77.5% of the price instead of 75%, so on that home £178,250 instead of £172,500. With less of your own money in the home, there's less cushion if prices fall.
First-time buyers only, with an income cap
Help to Buy started open to anyone buying a new build, including people moving home. From April 2021 it was limited to first-time buyers (HomeOwners Alliance). The new scheme is for first-time buyers from the start, and adds a household income cap (GOV.UK), which Help to Buy's rules didn't have.
Help to Buy's regional price caps (2021-2023)
For its final two years Help to Buy capped the price by region. The new scheme will have "local" caps; nobody knows yet whether they'll look anything like these.
| Region | Maximum price | 20% equity loan at the cap |
|---|---|---|
| North East | £186,100 | £37,220 |
| North West | £224,400 | £44,880 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £228,100 | £45,620 |
| East Midlands | £261,900 | £52,380 |
| West Midlands | £255,600 | £51,120 |
| East of England | £407,400 | £81,480 |
| London | £600,000 | £120,000 |
| South East | £437,600 | £87,520 |
| South West | £349,000 | £69,800 |
Caps: HomeOwners Alliance guide to Help to Buy 2021-2023. In London the Help to Buy loan could be up to 40%.
What Help to Buy did
From its start on 1 April 2013 to 31 May 2023, 387,195 homes were bought with a Help to Buy equity loan, with loans worth £24.7 billion; 328,346 of those buyers were first-time buyers (GOV.UK statistics).
The criticisms, and why they matter now
- Higher prices. Research cited when the new scheme was announced found Help to Buy buyers paid 10.3% more for their new build (Property Industry Eye). A 2024 study found it raised prices in Greater London without increasing building there (Wikipedia).
- Who benefited. One mortgage broker quoted by The Intermediary argued it worked better for housebuilders than for first-time buyers (The Intermediary).
- Demand, not supply. The Centre for Policy Studies' head of housing described the new scheme as subsidising demand without fixing supply (Property Industry Eye).
The government says the new scheme will "build on the lessons learned from previous schemes" (LBC). The income cap, local price caps and developer contributions look designed to answer some of these criticisms, but we'll know more at the Budget.
If you already have a Help to Buy loan
Nothing announced changes existing Help to Buy loans. The GOV.UK pages on paying interest, repaying and remortgaging still apply (Help to Buy: Equity Loan (GOV.UK)).
Related guides
Sources
- the government's announcement (GOV.UK, 26 September 2026)
- HomeOwners Alliance (28 September 2026)
- LBC (26 September 2026)
- Help to Buy: Equity Loan (GOV.UK)
- Help to Buy interest and fees (GOV.UK)
- Repaying a Help to Buy equity loan (GOV.UK)
- HomeOwners Alliance guide to Help to Buy 2021-2023
- Help to Buy statistics to 31 May 2023 (GOV.UK)
- Help to Buy (Wikipedia)
- Property Industry Eye
- The Intermediary (September 2026)