On 26 September 2026 the government announced a new first-time buyer scheme for England called Your First Home. It is an equity loan scheme expected to support deposits as low as 2.5%, backed by a 20% government equity loan, on new-build homes. It has not launched yet — the detail is due at the Budget on 28 October 2026, and nothing can be applied for until then.
This page sets out what has actually been announced, what has not, and what it sensibly means if you are saving for a first home right now. We will update it when the Budget confirms the detail.
From the government's announcement, the scheme is expected to involve:
The government's stated aim is to tackle the deposit barrier, and it says buyers using the scheme could pay hundreds of pounds a month less than they would on a 95% mortgage. Developers signing up will be expected to contribute towards the costs.
Quite a lot, and it is the part that will decide whether the scheme is useful to you:
Until those are published, nobody can tell you whether this scheme will be better for you than a 5% deposit mortgage, Shared Ownership, or simply saving for longer. Anyone who claims otherwise is guessing.
With an equity loan, the government lends you a percentage of the purchase price rather than a fixed sum of money. Under the previous Help to Buy equity loan scheme, you repaid the same percentage of the property's value when you sold or repaid the loan — so if the home rose in value, the amount you owed rose with it.
We do not yet know whether Your First Home works the same way. It is the single most important detail to wait for, because it determines what the help actually costs you over the life of the loan.
Three practical points.
If you are close to buying, there is nothing to apply for yet, and no date for when there will be. Holding off an offer you are happy with, on a property you want, for a scheme with no published rules, is a gamble rather than a plan.
If you are a year or more away, this is genuinely worth knowing about. The difference between a 2.5% deposit and a 5% deposit on a £200,000 home is £5,000 — for many savers, the best part of a year. It may change what you aim for, though only once the caps are published.
If you are set on an older property, the scheme as announced will not help, because it is for new-builds from participating developers. The other routes available to first-time buyers will still matter more to you.
The things that make you ready for any scheme are the same ones that make you ready for an ordinary mortgage: know what you can borrow, know what deposit you have, and keep your credit file clean in the months before you apply.
Our borrowing calculator gives you a rough figure in a couple of minutes, and an adviser will give you an accurate one. It is also worth understanding the schemes that exist today rather than the ones that might exist after the Budget — Shared Ownership, the Lifetime ISA, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, and First Homes.
When the Chancellor sets out the detail on 28 October, we will update this page with what was confirmed, what changed from the announcement, and what it means in Sheffield specifically — particularly the local price cap, which will decide how much of the city's new-build stock is actually in scope.
If you would like to talk it through before then, we are happy to, and we will be straight with you about what is confirmed and what is still an announcement. Your initial consultations and discussions are free, and our fees are set out in full before you commit to anything.
Call 0114 303 1031, email info@friendscapital.co.uk, or get in touch through the website.
Last updated 6 October 2026. Based on the government's announcement of 26 September 2026. Details are expected to change when the Budget is published.