Home Buying Advice

Help for First Time Buyers: How to Afford your First Home

• Find a Property
  It’s never been easier to find a property you would like to buy.
• Home Information Packs (HIPs)
  The introduction of Home Information Packs in the UK has been brought about to make the property buying process more transparent, quicker, more efficient and smoother.
• Co-buy a Property with a Stranger
  Buying a property with someone else has obvious benefits in that it can more than halve the deposit you need to come up with.
• Low Cost Home Ownership
  Whether you are a council or housing association tenant, keyworker or first-time buyer there are a range of schemes available to help you get your foot on the property ladder.
• Repossessed Homes
  Repossessed properties are becoming an increasingly popular way for first time buyers to grab a bargain.
• Auctions and Reverse Auctions
  Auctions: Buying a first home at an auction can often lead to a good buy - 90 per cent of the cheap property sold in the UK goes via auction.
• Mortgages for Those with Debts
  There are many, many people who would like to own their first home but believe that they have too many debts to have any chance of having a first mortgage approved.
• Inheritance Tax Planning
  Laws surrounding inheritance tax change slowly but it’s worth keeping up with how you can leave as much to your children as possible.
• Invest in Shares in a Portfolio of Rental Properties.
  If you don’t want to take the plunge and buy your first property now, or if you can’t afford it, there is a new way you can invest in property without taking out a mortgage and with some of the same returns.
• Stamp Duty
  Stamp Duty and Land Tax is payable in different amounts via the conveyancing solicitor, depending on the purchase price of the house.
• Affordable Housing
  Affordable Housing is a general term to housing that is offered through favourable schemes to make it affordable.
• Gifted Deposit
  A gifted deposit is a sum of money given by a third party for use as a deposit for a property.