First-time buyer schemes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Buying a first home in the UK is helped by a patchwork of schemes that differ by nation, and several of the best-known ones have already closed. The Help to Buy equity loan in England was restricted to first-time buyers in 2021 and ended in 2023¹, and the scheme closed to new applicants in England on 31 October 2022². What remains open depends on where you are buying: a Lifetime ISA available across the UK, First Homes discounts on new-build homes in England, the First Homes Fund in Scotland, Help to Buy - Wales, and shared ownership and shared equity schemes run differently in each nation.

The Lifetime ISA is the one scheme that works everywhere. You can open one between the ages of 18 and 39, pay in up to £4,000 a tax year, and receive a government bonus of 25%, up to a maximum of £1,000 a year³. In England, First Homes are new-build homes sold to first-time buyers with at least 30% off the market price⁴. In Wales, Help to Buy - Wales offers an interest-free equity loan of up to 20% of the value of a new-build home, with applications open until 31 March 2027⁵. In Scotland, the First Homes Fund can give first-time buyers up to £10,000 towards a home⁷, and in Northern Ireland low-cost home ownership schemes include buying a percentage of a property and renting the rest⁸.

The main first-time buyer schemes and where each one applies

No single scheme covers the whole of the UK, so the first question is which nation you are buying in. The table below sets out what is open, who runs it and who it is for.

Some schemes have closed and should not be part of a plan made today. The Help to Buy equity loan in England was restricted to first-time buyers in 2021 and ended in 2023¹. The First Home Fund in Scotland was a £200 million pilot shared equity scheme¹⁵, and its current application route and conditions are set out on the Scottish Government's pages¹⁷. Northern Ireland's support works mainly through buying a percentage of a property and renting the rest⁸, covered in more detail on the page about the House Sales Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Schemes can also be combined with savings products. A Help to Buy: ISA or a Lifetime ISA can be used towards the deposit for a First Homes Fund purchase in Scotland¹⁸, though the fund itself cannot be used together with other schemes that help you buy a home¹⁷. The pages on how much deposit you need and the costs of buying a house cover the rest of the money you will need to find.

Lifetime ISA: a 25% bonus of up to £1,000 a year

The Lifetime ISA is a savings account designed for first homes and later life. You can open one if you are 18 or over but under 40 and resident in the UK¹¹, and you can pay in up to £4,000 per tax year³. The government adds 25% on top of what you save, up to a maximum bonus of £1,000 a year³. The £4,000 annual limit is what makes the maximum bonus £1,000¹⁹, and half of all bonuses paid under the scheme have been the maximum £1,000²⁰.

There are conditions on how long you hold the account and what you can buy with it:

• You can continue to pay in until you turn 50³.
• The account must be open for at least a year before you can withdraw your money to buy your first home³.
• The first home must be in the UK, must be your only residence and cannot be a buy-to-let; the purchase price must not be over £450,000³.
• You can only pay into one Lifetime ISA per tax year³.
• If you are buying with someone else who also has a Lifetime ISA, you can both use your savings and government bonus, as long as you are both first-time buyers and both meet the conditions²¹.

The Lifetime ISA sits alongside the older Help to Buy: ISA, which also paid a 25% bonus to people saving for their first home²² and allowed first-time buyers to save up to £200 a month²². You can transfer money from a Help to Buy: ISA to a Lifetime ISA, but transferring the other way, from the Lifetime ISA to the Help to Buy: ISA, means paying the 25% withdrawal charge²¹. If you hold both, you can only use the government bonus from one of them to buy your first home²¹. The comparison of the Lifetime ISA and the Help to Buy: ISA sets out the differences in full.

Where the Lifetime ISA withdrawal charge applies

Money taken out of a Lifetime ISA for anything other than the permitted reasons carries a charge of 25% of the amount withdrawn³. The charge-free withdrawals are:

• buying your first home (from 6 April 2018, with the withdrawn amount paid to your conveyancer)¹⁹
• reaching age 60³
• death or terminal illness of the investor²³
• payments removed from an invalid account, management fees paid directly to the ISA manager, or the manager being declared in default by the FCA or FSCS²³
• an act, omission or circumstance not caused by the investor, and recoupment or repayment of an incorrect government bonus to HMRC²³

The legislation behind the account sets out the same list: no withdrawal charge applies after a specified age, for a first-time residential purchase, terminal illness, after death, or on a transfer to another Lifetime ISA²⁴. The 12-month holding rule is enforced in practice. In a case considered by the Financial Ombudsman Service, a saver named Sean wanted to withdraw from his Lifetime ISA for a first house purchase, but because the account had been opened less than 12 months before, a withdrawal charge applied²⁵.

Two further points catch people out. First, a first-time residential purchase will not qualify as a charge-free withdrawal if the purchase is funded by a loan from a person connected to the account investor²⁶. Second, the government has announced a First Time Buyer ISA which, once available, will be offered in place of the Lifetime ISA²⁷; until then the current rules, including the 25% charge, continue to apply.

First Homes: at least 30% off a new-build home in England

First Homes is an England-only discount scheme for new-build properties. Developers offer these homes to first-time buyers with at least 30% of the market value taken off the price⁴. The discount is a minimum: properties are discounted by a minimum of 30% against the market value¹², and the scheme gives first-time buyers the opportunity to buy a home for 30% to 50% less than its market value². Local areas, meaning local authorities and neighbourhood planning groups, might require a larger minimum discount of 40% or 50%¹².

The rules that shape whether a particular home qualifies are:

• New build First Homes cannot cost more than £250,000 after the discount, or more than £420,000 if the property is in London⁴.
• The first sale must be at a price no higher than £250,000, or £420,000 in London, after the discount is applied¹².
• First Homes must be used as a person's sole or primary residence¹².
• Every home sold through the scheme is valued by an independent surveyor to make sure the discount is based on actual market value⁴.

Applications do not go through a government portal. Enquiries about, and applications for, a First Home should be directed to the relevant site developer¹², and you can look for new homes in your area that are advertised by developers or estate agents through the First Homes scheme⁴. Unlike shared ownership, there is no rent to pay on a First Home⁴, which is the main practical difference from the schemes in the next sections. The dedicated page on the First Homes scheme covers eligibility in more detail.

Selling a First Home: the discount passes to the next buyer

A First Home comes with a permanent discount attached. The discount applies in perpetuity, meaning it will be passed on to the next buyer each time the home is sold¹². On the first sale, a restriction is registered on the property's title at HM Land Registry to ensure the discount and other restrictions apply to future sales¹². The price cap, however, will not apply to any subsequent sales¹².

When you sell, you must give the buyer the same percentage discount that you got, based on the home's market value at the time of sale²⁸. The mechanics work like this:

• The home is valued, and the amount the surveyor values it for, minus the percentage discount you originally got, is what you can sell for. You cannot sell for more, but you can choose to sell for less²⁸.
• You can usually only sell the property to someone who is eligible to buy a First Home²⁸.
• In the scheme's own example, a home valued by a RICS surveyor at £200,000 with an original 30% discount, meaning £60,000, can be sold for up to £140,000²⁸.

There is an escape route if the discount makes selling impossible. You can ask your local council for permission to sell your property at the full market price to any buyer if either you have tried unsuccessfully to sell it as a First Home for 6 months or more, or selling it as a First Home will cause you severe difficulties, such as bankruptcy²⁸. If the council agrees, you will need to return the percentage discount to the local council, giving the council the same percentage of the sale price as the percentage taken off when you bought²⁸. In the scheme's worked example of a home bought for £175,000 after a 30% discount and sold on the open market for £300,000, the seller must return to the council 30% of the sale price, which is £90,000²⁸.

Shared ownership: buy a share and pay rent on the rest

Shared ownership lets you buy part of a home and rent the remainder, and it exists in some form in every nation, though the details differ. In England, shared ownership offers the option to buy a share of your home, between 10% and 75%, and pay rent on the remainder¹⁰. Under the Right to Shared Ownership scheme you buy a share as a leaseholder, pay rent to the landlord on the rest, and usually pay monthly service charges as well¹⁶. You can buy more shares in the future, known as staircasing, and pay less rent on the rest of the property¹⁶, a process covered in detail on the pages about staircasing and shared ownership in England.

In Wales, Shared Ownership works on a similar pattern: you buy an initial share of 25% to 75% of a property, with rent paid on the remaining share¹⁴. In Scotland, the rest of the home is owned by a housing association, and you pay them an occupancy charge to live in it⁷. In Northern Ireland, if you cannot afford to buy the entire property, you can buy a percentage and rent the rest⁸. The comparison of shared ownership and shared equity explains the difference between the two models: in shared ownership you own a share and rent the rest, while in shared equity a lender or government body holds a stake in the value.

The costs are what distinguish shared ownership from buying outright. Your outgoings are made up of the mortgage on your share, the rent or occupancy charge on the remainder, and usually a monthly service charge¹⁶. The deposit you need is worked out on the share you buy, not the full property value, which is why the scheme tends to suit buyers who cannot stretch to a whole-home deposit; the page on deposits for shared ownership covers this. The trade-off is that you do not own the whole home, and buying more of it later costs valuation and legal fees each time.

Help to Buy - Wales: an equity loan of up to 20% on new builds

Help to Buy - Wales is a Welsh Government scheme providing a shared equity loan to buyers of new-build homes²⁹. It is a shared equity loan scheme for homes up to £300,000 from 1 April 2023, open to first-time buyers and home movers¹⁴, so unlike most schemes on this page it is not limited to first-time buyers. The Welsh Government describes it as an equity mortgage: an interest-free loan for the first 5 years, of up to 20% of the property value⁵. The scheme provides a maximum equity loan of £60,000, which is 20% of the purchase price³⁰, and the minimum loan is 10% of the market value of the newly built home⁹.

The structure of a purchase looks like this:

• You provide a 5% deposit and fund up to 80% through a repayment mortgage³¹.
• The Welsh Government lends between 10% and 20% of the market value as an equity mortgage⁹.
• The home you purchase must be your only home, and you must reserve it with a Help to Buy - Wales registered homebuilder³¹.
• You must take out a first charge repayment mortgage with a qualifying lender³².

In the scheme's own example of a £200,000 purchase, the equity mortgage is £40,000, or 20%³³. The loan is not free forever: it is interest-free for the first 5 years⁵, after which fees apply, and it is repaid as a percentage of the home's value rather than a fixed cash sum. The pages on when interest starts on an equity loan and repaying a Help to Buy - Wales loan early explain the repayment mechanics.

The scheme has been used heavily by first-time buyers. Since its introduction, the majority of completed purchases have been made by first-time buyers, 76% of all completed purchases, or 10,806³⁰, and in 2023-24 first-time buyers made 84% of completed purchases³⁰. Since its inception on 2 January 2014 to 30 September 2025, there have been 15,043 completions under Help to Buy - Wales, including 83 property purchases completed between 1 July and 30 September 2025³⁴. Applications must be submitted by 31 March 2027⁶.

Missed payments and arrears on a Help to Buy - Wales equity loan

The equity mortgage brings ongoing obligations beyond the first five years, and the Welsh Government publishes a detailed arrears policy. Arrears are defined as outstanding management fees, outstanding interest payments, and any other outstanding amounts relating to charges or interest³⁵. If you are going to miss a payment, the amount becomes payable when you come to repay your Equity Mortgage⁶.

The stated overriding objective of arrears management is to help customers get back on track with their repayments³⁵. The commitments the scheme makes are:

• Notification: customers whose accounts go into arrears are given information about the arrears before any attempts are made to recover them, and a reasonable amount of time to make good the arrears³⁵.
• Assessment: steps are taken to understand a customer's financial circumstances to determine a suitable arrears management plan³⁵.
• Signposting: customers in arrears experiencing financial difficulties are referred to a source of free and independent debt advice³⁵.
• Verification: reasonable steps are taken to verify the accuracy of the data before pursuing a customer, so it only pursues the verified customer and for the correct amount³⁵.
• Tools and forbearance: a range of suitable tools is made available, and customers are treated in accordance with the principles of Treating Customers Fairly, with due consideration given to forbearance and breathing space³⁵.

Only some of the accounts under the scheme are FCA-regulated, but the scheme states that non-regulated accounts will be treated with equivalent standards to FCA-regulated accounts³⁵. Interest may be charged on overdue money, applied every day until paid in full, plus other reasonable costs³¹.

The escalation path is fixed. A Default Notice will be issued 180 days after an Equity Mortgage goes into arrears where there has been no engagement or co-operation from the customer, or the customer has not satisfied any arrears management agreements made³⁵. The Default Notice provides 28 days' notice to make good the arrears³⁵.

Your First Home: the new equity loan announced for England

England's Help to Buy equity loan has closed, but a successor has been announced. On 26 September 2026 the government announced a new equity loan scheme, Your First Home, in England, which will be confirmed at the next Budget¹³. The scheme is aimed at prospective first-time buyers purchasing a new-build property from a developer signed up to the scheme¹³, backed by 20% government-backed equity loans¹³. Reports of the announcement describe it as supporting 2.5% deposits, with the rest made up of the equity loan and a mortgage.

Because the details are to be confirmed at the Budget, the practical position for anyone planning a purchase now is that the scheme cannot yet be applied for, and its costs, caps and implementation dates are not final. What is known is the shape: a small deposit, a government equity loan of 20% and a mortgage for the remainder, on new-build homes from participating developers¹³. This mirrors the structure of the closed Help to Buy equity loan, which was restricted to first-time buyers in 2021 and ended in 2023¹ and closed to new applicants in England on 31 October 2022². The page on the Help to Buy equity loan explains how that scheme worked, which is a reasonable guide to how equity loans of this kind behave.

In the meantime, the open options in England are the Lifetime ISA, First Homes and shared ownership. The First Homes Fund in Scotland, by contrast, is a shared equity pilot worth £200 million¹⁵, offering first-time buyers up to £10,000⁷; its eligibility rules require at least a 5% deposit, and if you are buying with someone else, at least one of you must be a first-time buyer, with any existing property sold before the purchase completes¹⁷. Buyers using the fund cannot be buying with cash¹⁸, and the fund cannot be combined with other home-buying schemes, though a Help to Buy: ISA or Lifetime ISA can be used for the deposit¹⁷.

Complaints, debt advice and extra support

If things go wrong with a scheme, there are two routes depending on what has gone wrong. Complaints about a Lifetime ISA are handled first by the ISA manager, and if the matter is not resolved, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it: its published case on a Lifetime ISA withdrawal charge shows the kind of dispute it considers, in that instance whether a charge applied to a first-home purchase made within 12 months of opening²⁵. Complaints about the house-buying process itself, including developers and estate agents, are covered on the page about complaining when buying a home goes wrong.

For anyone struggling with the ongoing costs of a scheme, free debt advice exists independently of the lender. Help to Buy - Wales works closely with the debt advice agency PayPlan, but you can use any free debt advice agency⁶. The scheme's own arrears policy commits it to referring customers in financial difficulty to a source of free and independent debt advice³⁵, and to allowing forbearance and breathing space where appropriate³⁵. The debt section of this site explains the free advice options and how they work.

Support with living costs more broadly is available in each nation. The Welsh Government publishes cost of living information alongside its housing schemes⁶, and equivalent sources exist for Scotland and Northern Ireland through mygov.scot and nidirect⁷. If a purchase is being planned around family money, the pages on gifted deposits and family help buying a home set out the evidence lenders ask for and the tax questions that can arise.