You may have heard the term First Time Buyer floating around a number of articles in our Resource Hub or further afield, but what actually is a First Time Buyer?
A First Time Buyer is traditionally someone who's never owned property in the UK or abroad. That said, some Lenders treat you as a First Time Buyers after a few years without you owning a property. If you're purchasing a property with someone else, often you must both be First Time Buyers to be viewed as such.
First Time Buyers are in essence very similar to any one else purchasing a property. The process is the same however there are a couple of perks.
One of these being that First Time Buyers don't pay Stamp Duty on properties under £300,000. Although your solicitor will need to submit the Stamp Duty Land Tax Return to HMRC, there shouldn't be a bill to pay.
Another benefit for First Time Buyers is that there are specific schemes to support you, as well as other schemes you can take advantage of, to help you get onto the property ladder. These include the First Homes scheme & the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, but there are others.
However as a First Time Buyer, you're under no obligation to use a specialist scheme at all. There are a number of lenders who have brought back 95% lending, meaning that it is possible to use a 5% deposit for the mortgage (subject to lender eligibility criteria).
Whether you have a 5% deposit or a 30% deposit, your adviser will search the whole of the market to find you the best mortgage deal for your circumstances.
There are a number of articles, here on the Resource Hub, to help your journey to homeownership. They can be found here.
Comments