Lucy Beaumont is 29, works reception at a veterinary practice in Leeds, and pays £750 a month for a one-bedroom flat in Armley — a figure that rises every spring like clockwork. She has saved £4,000, painstakingly, and it felt like an achievement until she divided it by the price of a new-build in West Yorkshire. Then came the announcement from Prime Minister Andy Burnham: Your First Home, a scheme built for people exactly like Lucy — first-time buyers in England with no family money to lean on — with a deposit floor of just 2.5%.

Lucy is not counting chickens. Right now this is a headline, not a rulebook: the fine print lands at the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026, and registration opens before the end of the year. So this guide does three things — explains the announced structure, marks the parts still written in pencil, and helps you run your own numbers with the calculator at the top of this page. One house rule first: we are an independent guide, not the government. The official terms will appear on GOV.UK after the Budget, and that is the only place that counts.

The deal, in plain numbers

Here is the announced structure. For a new-build home, the government puts up an equity loan worth 20% of the purchase price. You put down a minimum of 2.5%. A standard mortgage covers the remaining 77.5%. The equity loan carries no interest charges at first — that is the engine of the whole thing.

Make it concrete with a £250,000 new-build, typical for much of the North. Lucy would need £6,250 of her own money (2.5%), the government would lend £50,000 (20%), and she would mortgage £193,750 (77.5%). Because the equity loan is interest-free initially, her monthly payment covers only the smaller mortgage — which is where the promised savings come from.

The scope is narrow by design: first-time buyers only, England only, newly built properties from participating developers only. And it is a separate, new scheme — not an add-on to the old Help to Buy.

What it could mean for a monthly budget

The government projects participants could save several hundred pounds a month compared with a conventional 95% mortgage. For Lucy, whose rent already eats a third of her pay, that is the difference between surviving and actually getting ahead — a smaller mortgage means a smaller monthly payment, and the equity loan does the heavy lifting.

Try it yourself with the calculator above: enter a new-build price and it breaks down the 2.5% deposit, the 20% equity loan and the monthly figure on the 77.5% mortgage. Treat the result as orientation, not a promise — the final rules, confirmed at the Budget, can still move these numbers.

Everything still written in pencil

Now the honest part. Still unconfirmed: household income caps, maximum deposit levels, regional property price limits, how long the interest-free period on the equity loan lasts, what interest rate applies afterwards, and whether there are fees for repaying the government's share early.

Analysts are waving one flag in particular: read the post-interest-free terms very carefully before committing. A scheme that feels gentle in year one could bite hard in year six if the equity loan starts charging real interest. And remember what the loan is — a debt, secured on your home, that must be repaid when you sell or remortgage, plus whatever interest applies after the free period. The equity structure does share risk with you: if you sell for less, you repay less of the loan.

How to get ready now, before the doors open

Registration opens by the end of 2026, and preparation costs nothing. Keep saving toward that 2.5%, pull your credit file and fix any surprises, and get a mortgage agreement in principle so you know your borrowing range. People who do this now will be first in the queue when the rules drop.

Then watch 28 October 2026. The Autumn Budget publishes the confirmed rules — and you should read the official GOV.UK guidance before registering anything, anywhere.

Watch out for scams

Brand-new schemes are catnip for fraudsters. Two iron rules: the government will never ask you to pay a “registration fee” by bank transfer, and it will never message you about Your First Home on social media. Official business happens on GOV.UK, and only there. If anyone pressures you to “secure your slot” with money, walk away.