I'm New to Homebuying
Don't worry. Everyone was once here.
Start at the start. These guides walk you through credit, affordability, brokers, schemes and finding your home, in the order they matter.
Prefer to listen? Open any guide and use the audio player at the top to hear it read aloud.
Recommended Guides
Your Credit Rating
How to check, understand, and improve your credit score for better mortgage rates and lending options.
Affording Your Home
Budgeting strategies and financial planning for sustainable homeownership and long-term success.
Affordability & Deposit Alternatives
Family gifts, equity loans, low deposit mortgages, guarantor options, and regional schemes to help you buy.
Finding a Broker
How mortgage brokers work, when you need one, and how to choose the right broker for your situation.
Finding a Solicitor
Why you need one, what to ask, choosing the right conveyancing solicitor, and understanding costs.
Government Schemes
Overview of all government-backed routes to homeownership and how to decide which is right for you.
Private Treaty
Buying the home you already rent from your landlord: how to approach it, value it, negotiate and complete without overpaying.
Finding Your Home
Budgeting strategies, search tips, area research, and making competitive offers in today's market.
Securing Your New Home
Making offers, understanding acceptance, surveys, conveyancing process, and exchange completion.
Moving In
Setting up utilities, council tax, building relationships with neighbors, and understanding freeholder responsibilities.
Maintaining Your Home
Essential maintenance tasks, seasonal checklists, when to DIY vs hire professionals, and budgeting for upkeep.
What usually gets in the way
The obstacles that come up most often for this group, and what actually moves each one.
Not knowing the order things happen in
Most first time buyers start by looking at properties, which is the step that matters least at the beginning. The sequence that works is credit first, then a realistic budget, then a broker and a mortgage in principle, then viewings, then an offer, then a solicitor. Viewing homes before you know your number wastes months and leads to offers that fall through.
Guessing your budget instead of working it out
Lenders look at your income, your existing credit commitments, your dependants and your outgoings, then stress test the payment against a higher rate than the one you would actually pay. A quick online estimate is not a budget. Working out the monthly payment you could still cover in a lean month gives you a number you can trust.
Only counting the deposit
The deposit is the biggest number but it is not the only one. Legal fees, searches, a survey, a mortgage product fee, land registry fees, stamp duty where it applies, removals and the first month of bills all land in the same few weeks. Buyers who plan only for the deposit run out of money at exchange.
Small credit problems that are easy to fix and easy to miss
An old address still on file, an unused account with a forgotten balance, a mobile bill missed by a week, or no credit history at all. None of these are dramatic on their own, and all of them can change the lenders willing to look at you. Check your files early, because some corrections take a couple of months to show.
Assuming you need a 20 percent deposit and stopping there
Plenty of first time buyers complete with far less, and some routes need very little up front. Believing you need a fifth of the price is the single most common reason people decide they cannot buy before they have checked what is actually available to them.
Going straight to your own bank
Your bank can only offer its own products and its own criteria. A whole of market broker sees the range and knows which lenders suit first time buyers with your particular income and credit picture. That is usually worth more than a small difference in headline rate.
Routes worth checking
Eligibility rules differ by nation and sometimes by local authority. Always check the current rules for where you plan to buy.
Shared ownership
Buy a share of a home and pay rent on the remainder. It lowers both the deposit and the mortgage you need. Check the rent, the service charge, the lease length, the resale rules and the cost of buying further shares later before you commit.
First Homes
A discount on the price of eligible new build homes for local first time buyers. A lower price means a smaller loan. Eligibility is set locally, so check the rules for the area you want to buy in.
Lifetime ISA
A savings route where the government adds a bonus on eligible contributions towards a first home (e.g. a Lifetime ISA). There are rules on the maximum property price and a withdrawal penalty if you take the money out for anything other than a first home or retirement, so read those before you open one.
Family supported routes
Guarantor mortgages and joint borrower sole proprietor arrangements let a family member support the application without owning the property. These are real options and they place genuine obligations on the person helping you. Both of you should understand those in full first.
Nation specific schemes
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes and their own property tax, and rules change. Always check what is currently open where you plan to buy rather than assuming an England scheme applies.
What the first year of planning can look like
An illustration of how the steps stack up, using made up figures to show the mechanism. Not a quotation, a prediction or advice.
- Month 1
- Check all three credit files, fix errors
- Months 1 to 2
- Build a monthly budget you could sustain
- Month 2
- Set a deposit target and a saving rate
- Months 3 to 9
- Save, keep credit use low, avoid new borrowing
- Month 9
- Speak to a whole of market broker
- Months 9 to 12
- Mortgage in principle, then start viewings
The timings will differ for everyone. The order rarely does. Illustration only, not financial or mortgage advice.
Your next steps
- Understand your credit file before you apply
- See what lenders count as affordable
- Read the overview of every government scheme first
- Find out which buyer type you are with the Buyer Personality quiz
- Read the full step-by-step guide to buying a house in the UK
- Score how mortgage ready you are with the free Readiness Check
- Work out a monthly payment you could sustain with the Monthly Budget Builder
- Set a deposit target and timeline in the Deposit Builder
- Add up legal fees, survey and stamp duty with the Total Cost to Complete calculator
- Compare staying in rented against buying with the Rent vs Buy calculator
Ready to Dive In?
Read the whole buying process end to end, or browse every guide in one place.