In recent years, the property market has been very busy with property prices experiencing significant rises. This has resulted in many people finding hard to get on the property ladder. This problem is most acute among first time buyers, where even if they can secure a mortgage, it invariably is insufficient to buy the desired property.

Getting on the ladder

However, first time buyers can nonetheless still step onto the property ladder and being a first time buyer has a few advantages as well:

  • First time buyers are not involved in a chain (a long list of people buying the other’s property that all have to complete around the same time). They are therefore very appealling to sellers because they break the chain and allow the move to take place.
  • First time buyers are attractive to mortgage lenders.
  • First time buyers can take advantage of the lowest interest rate for over 30 years.

The government also run several schemes to enable first time buyers to get onto the property ladder. Two such schemes are the Key Worker Living programme to help people employed in key public sector roles (such as nurses or firefighters), to buy properties in expensive cities. Other is HomeBuy to help those who cannot afford to buy a property outright.