FAQ's

Help to Buy is a government scheme that allows you to move home with a deposit as low as 5%.

Help to Buy: Equity Loans are where the government lends the homebuyer up to 20% of the house price so they only need a 5% deposit and 75% mortgage on the property.

First time buyers and existing homeowners are both eligible for a Help to Buy equity loan if the property is newly built and costs £600,000 or less.

There are also some other criteria buyers need to meet. Find out more and check if you are eligible for Help to Buy: https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/

Shared ownership is a way to purchase property if you can't afford to pay for a mortgage on 100% of a home – you simply buy a share of it. A housing developer owns the rest but you can buy additional shares as and when you can afford it. Both new homes and existing homes can be purchased through a shared ownership scheme.

Through Help to Buy, homebuyers can purchase between 25% and 75% of the property using a deposit and a mortgage. You then pay rent on the remaining share, which is owned by a local housing association. The rent you pay can be up to 3% of the association's share of the value of the property.  

You may be eligible for shared ownership if you meet certain factors such as your household income amounting to £80,000 or less if you live outside London, and £90,000 or less if you live in London.

Stamp Duty is the tax you pay on land and property transactions and includes new homes and shared ownership homes. Depending on the purchase price of the property, you may be required to pay stamp duty on the residential value of the property. There are two ways to pay stamp duty: making a one-off payment based on the total market value of the property, or paying the stamp duty value in stages.

More information on stamp duty for shared ownership properties https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/shared-ownership-property

This depends on the property you buy and on the property developer. With new build properties, you may be reserving a home that has not yet been fully built. The developer will provide you with a completion date, and if all goes to plan with the construction and financing, this will be when you can move in.