First-time buyers

A first-time buyer is someone who’s never owned a home or land before (either in the UK or abroad) and plans to live in the property they’re buying - this is known as their residential property.

If you’ve inherited a property or some land, you wouldn’t be classed as a first-time buyer, even if you’ve never bought before yourself. This means that first-time buyer benefits, like stamp duty discounts, are only available if you’ve never owned a residential property before.

We ask for at least 5% of the value of your property or 10% for new builds. So, if you're buying a £100,000 home, you’d need at least £5,000 saved. Gifted deposits are totally fine too.

Use our ’How much can I borrow’ calculator to get an idea of how much you could borrow.

• It’s an estimate of how much you may be able to borrow and shows vendors you’re serious about their property
• It's quick and easy
• It won't impact your credit score

Take a look at our 4-step journey below

1. Use our ’How much can I borrow’ calculator to get an idea of how much you could borrow
2. Check out the ‘repayment calculator’ to see our rates and monthly payments for a first-time buyer mortgage
3. Then, you could get a Decision in Principle which provides a personalised indication of how much you could borrow. You can use this to show your estate agent that you're a serious buyer and put in an offer on a property.
4. Once you've had your offer accepted, you can then submit your application and speak with a Mortgage Adviser to receive personalised mortgage recommendation.

A solicitor plays an important role in the process of buying a house by ensuring the transaction is legally binding and protecting your interests. Having a solicitor helps to ensure that the process is smooth, efficient, and legally sound, reducing the risk of future disputes or issues.

If you’re a first-time buyer, you could get a discount on stamp duty, depending on where you’re buying in the UK.

For example, in Northern Ireland, you may not need to pay stamp duty depending on the price of your property. Find out more on Stamp Duty Land Tax Calculator .

Your mortgage consultant will help you with this decision.

With a fixed rate of interest, your payments stay the same for a set time (usually 2–5 years with Danske Bank). This gives you certainty, but if rates drop during the fixed term, you won’t benefit – and there may be a penalty if you want to get out of the fixed rate deal before the end of your fixed term.

With a variable rate of interest, your payments can change with interest rates. You could pay less if rates fall, and there’s usually no early repayment charge – but if rates rise, your payments could go up too.

When you apply for a mortgage, we’ll ask a surveyor to inspect the property, value it and produce a valuation report. This is to ensure it’s worth the amount being paid.

We don’t currently charge for the valuation report, which is a basic evaluation of the property. You can choose to request other optional checks and surveys, which you will have to pay for, but could help uncover any potential issues with the property.

‘Loan to Value’ or LTV is the ratio of your mortgage to the value of your property. So, an LTV of 85% on a house worth £100,000 means that your mortgage will be £85,000. The other £15,000 is your ‘equity’ - the amount you own.

A lower LTV will usually mean a lower interest rate on your mortgage. Or to put it another way, the more you put down as a deposit, the less interest you’ll pay.

Check out our ‘9 stages of buying your first home’, this should give you all the information you need.