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First Time Buyers
At Watkins Solicitors, we know how important your first home is to you. To make the process as smooth as possible and reduce your stress, we will work closely with you throughout the whole purchase, explaining everything in plain English. Your questions will be answered promptly, and we won’t be satisfied until we see you happily in your new home.
Our Residential Conveyancing team are highly experienced with a friendly and proactive approach. Our team of experts will guide you through the buying and selling process. We are accredited by the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) providing assurance of the high standards of our services.
If you want the reassurance of knowing your first home purchase is in safe hands, the team at Watkins Solicitors is here for you.
To see how much your conveyancing might cost, please request a no-obligation quote for our conveyancing services or use the contact details below to get in touch.
For tailored advice and support related to buying your first property, you can contact us on 0117 939 0350 or email info@watkinssolicitors.co.uk.
Alternatively, you can use our contact form to request a call back and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.
Our solicitors can help first-time buyers with matters including:
First-time buyer conveyancing is mostly the same as the standard conveyancing process for other types of buyers, with a couple of additional steps (depending on the exact situation).
The process will normally involve:
There have been various government schemes for first-time buyers in recent years. These are sometimes called ‘Help to Buy schemes’.
There are two main types of first-time buyer schemes currently open to new applicants. These are the First Homes Scheme and Lifetime ISAs (LISAs).
The First Homes Scheme can allow eligible buyers to purchase a home for 30-50% less than the property’s market value. It will either need to be a new home or a home that was previously purchased by someone under the same scheme.
A LISA allows you to save up to £4,000 tax-free each year and receive a 25% bonus each year from the government up to a maximum of £1,000. You must be over 18 and under 40 to open a LISA, but as long as you make the first payment before you turn 40, you can keep paying into it until you turn 50. LISAs replaced the earlier Help to Buy ISAs.
One popular first-time buyer scheme that is no longer available was the Help to Buy mortgage scheme. This allowed people buying their first home to get a mortgage with as little as 5% deposit supported by a government Help to Buy: Equity Loan. This was designed to help people who were struggling to build up a deposit. This scheme closed in 2023 and no equivalent is currently on offer.
When buying a property in England, you may have to pay a tax called Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) depending on the value of the property. For properties in Wales, the equivalent tax is called Land Transaction Tax (LTT). If the value of the property is below a certain threshold, you will not need to pay Stamp Duty and this threshold is higher for first-time buyers than for other buyers.
If you are buying your first home, then you will pay no Stamp Duty on a property up to the value of £425,000. If the property is worth between £425,001 and £625,000, then you will pay 5% on the value over £425,000. So, for example, if a property cost £525,000 then you would pay no tax on the first £425,000 and 5% on the remaining £100,000, giving a total SDLT bill of £5,000.
If the property is worth more than £625,000, then you would not benefit from the higher threshold for first-time buyers and would need to pay Stamp Duty on the value of the property above £250,000. You can read more about Stamp Duty Land Tax rates on the government’s website.
If you are using a Help to Buy mortgage, then you can potentially buy a home with as little as 5% deposit. Otherwise, you will normally need a minimum of 10% deposit but this will depend on your income, the value of the property and your lender’s rules.
Help to Buy mortgages are also sometimes referred to as ‘first-time buyer mortgages’.
It is always advisable to use specialist conveyancing solicitors for buying a house. This helps to ensure the process is followed correctly and that any potential problems can be identified and resolved. Having a good solicitor by your side can also help the purchase to go ahead faster while making it much less stressful for you.
Using a solicitor for buying a house also gives you the protection of the solicitor’s liability insurance should anything be missed that later ends up costing you money.
“Excellent work ethic and great communication. Very thorough, efficient and helpful. They helped with buying a property and showed great professionalism. If I needed solicitors again, I would use this company.”
“Thank you to both Jagoda and Morgan for making the sale of our existing property and the purchase of a new one so straightforward. Despite our buyers pushing for completion after 4 weeks, both made the process relatively stress free and completed our purchase quicker than we thought, which we are very grateful for. I would highly recommend this company and in particular Jagoda and Morgan.”
For tailored advice and support related to buying your first property, you can contact us on 0117 939 0350 or email info@watkinssolicitors.co.uk.
Alternatively, you can use our contact form to request a call back and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.