The UK government has announced Your First Home, a new equity-loan programme for first-time buyers in England that ministers say is due for Budget confirmation next month. It does not apply in Scotland.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government statement on 26 September 2026 set out the outline. Buyers would put down 2.5%, with the state taking a 20% equity stake, on new homes sold by builders that join the programme.
On those outline percentages, three pots make up the purchase price. The buyer puts in a cash deposit of 2.5%. The government equity loan covers 20%. The remainder, about 77.5%, is the mortgage.
Take a £300,000 new home, using the outline percentages for illustration only. The buyer’s cash deposit would be £7,500. The government equity loan would be £60,000. The mortgage would be about £232,500..
MHCLG said the equity loan would begin with a period free of interest. Quoting the department: people using the scheme “could save hundreds of pounds per month compared to a 95% mortgage.”
The same statement says support will be limited by a household income cap and by local property price caps. Those thresholds, and costs and timelines, are left for the Chancellor at the Budget. Builders that join would be expected to pay towards running costs.
BBC coverage the same day confirmed the England-only scope. It also reported that ministers have not yet said whether the scheme will have an age limit. On price limits, MHCLG’s primary already states that local property price caps will apply; the Budget is where those caps are due to be set.
Housing and first-time buyer support are largely devolved. Scotland has its own first-time buyer and shared equity routes; Your First Home does not change them.