The First-time Buyer’s Guide to London
Posted by Barratt London on 19th June 2021 -
As the UK’s Capital, economic centre and one of the world’s great cities, London remains an incredibly popular place to move to, live in and make home. Yet if you’re interested in buying your first home here, there are a few special considerations worth bearing in mind.
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Getting a mortgage in London
With property prices as they are, getting a mortgage for a home in London can be a daunting task, particularly for first-time buyers.
The two main factors determining whether you’ll be accepted for a mortgage are likely to be deposit size and income. Before you begin looking at homes, it’s important to work out how much you can borrow (or will need to save) to understand the sort of properties and postcodes you can afford.
Income assessment
As a general rule of thumb, mortgage lenders will loan up to 4.5 times the total annual income of you and anyone else you’re buying with, but they’ll also consider a variety of other factors including debts you have, average spending and your personal circumstances.
Deposit size
When it comes to your deposit, bigger is generally better. Not only will you need a decent-sized amount to get a mortgage at all, but you’ll also find that a larger deposit may mean you can access better interest rates on your mortgage. However, if you’re a first-time buyer looking at a new build home, you could take advantage of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme where you’ll only need a 5% deposit. We’ve explained in more detail below.
Credit rating
One further factor to consider before applying is your credit rating. Make sure yours is in good shape by checking out your credit reports (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion are the main ones) and ask to have any mistakes you spot corrected immediately. If required, use the information in your report to take steps to improve your rating. Something like getting on the electoral roll is simple to do, but could be what makes the difference between acceptance and rejection.
Choosing the right mortgage
When researching and applying for your mortgage, you have the option of going directly to the lender. However it may be worth considering a mortgage advisor or broker, especially one who specialises in new-build homes if you’re buying a new property: they’ll have in-depth knowledge of the market and could give you advice to make the process easier. Depending on how they work, there might not even be a fee.
The London Help to Buy Scheme
As raising a deposit for a first home tends to be challenging, the Government Help to Buy scheme is designed to provide support. In fact, there is a special version of the scheme just for London which takes into account the particular challenges of the Capital’s property market. This means it is also more generous than elsewhere in the UK.
Help to Buy: Equity Loan price caps – April 2021 to March 2023
| Region | Maximum property price 2 |
| North East | £186,100 |
| North West | £224,400 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £228,100 |
| East Midlands | £261,900 |
| West Midlands | £255,600 |
| East of England | £407,400 |
| London | £600,000 |
| South East | £437,600 |
| South West | £349,000 |
Under Help to Buy, those purchasing a new-build home within the 32 boroughs of London can apply for an equity loan of up to 40% of the property’s value. This means you can put down a deposit of 5%, borrow up to 40% of the property price with a Government equity loan (interest-free for 5 years) and take out a mortgage on the remaining 55% – potentially improving your chances of being accepted by a lender, and of unlocking better mortgage interest rates.
London Help to Buy equity loans are available to first-time buyers looking to buy a new-build property worth £600,000 or less. The loan is interest-free for the first five years.
Interested in exploring if the scheme’s right for you? You can find out more by clicking here.
Stamp Duty in London
Stamp Duty is the tax charged by the Government when you buy a home or piece of land in England. It can apply whether you’re a first-time buyer or have previously owned a property, but recent Government announcements – in-part designed to help first-time buyers – make it more likely you’ll now pay less than before.
First-time buyer stamp duty relief
In 2017, the Government announced first-time buyers paying £300,000 or less for a residential property will pay no stamp duty. Those paying between £300,000 and £500,000 will pay stamp duty at 5% on the amount of the purchase price in excess of £300,000, a reduction of £5,000 compared to the amount of SDLT they would have previously paid. There’s no relief on properties above £500,000.
Stamp Duty Holiday until 30 September 2021
In 2020, a temporary Stamp Duty Holiday was announced that benefitted home buyers until the end of March 2021. This has since been extended, set to come to a tapered end on 30 September 2021. Under the holiday, you can save thousands on your home depending on when you complete on the sale:
Until 30 June 2021
You’ll pay no Stamp Duty on homes up to £500,000, meaning you could save up to £15,000.
From 1 July – 30 September 2021
- If you’re a first-time buyer and the home is under £300,000, then there will be no Stamp Duty to be paid. And if it’s worth between £300,001 and £500,000, you’ll only pay 5% Stamp Duty on that portion.
- If you’re an existing homeowner, you’ll pay 0% Stamp Duty on the first £250,000 portion of the purchase price, saving you up to £2,500.
After 30 September 2021
The Stamp Duty you pay will revert to the 2017 Stamp Duty relief calculation.
It’s worth noting that Stamp Duty will need paying within 14 days of completion, so you’ll need to factor this into your upfront costs.
Already found a property you’re interested in? Why not try our Stamp Duty calculator to see how much you’ll need to pay.
Where to live in London
From the bright lights of Soho to the open spaces of the suburbs, there are a huge number of neighbourhoods, communities and locations to choose from when buying in London. To help you get started, we’ve explored some areas in this guide.
Where’s right for you to buy will depend on many factors, from practical ones like budget and distance to work, to emotional ones like your lifestyle, future plans and areas you know and love. As well as the purchase price, it’s also worth considering expenses such as council tax and the cost of commuting.
Before making any decisions, do plenty of research on potential areas – ideally visiting multiple times to really get a feel for the place. Looking into major re-development plans or transport projects can also be a worthwhile way of identifying locations which currently represent good value.
The table below shows the average price of a London home by borough, as of March 2021:
| Borough | Average house price |
| Barking and Dagenham | £320,507 |
| Barnet | £741,994 |
| Bexley | £396,573 |
| Brent | £627,713 |
| Bromley | £533,130 |
| Camden | £1,189,550 |
| City of London | £921,103 |
| Croydon | £389,483 |
| Ealing | £622,637 |
| Enfield | £502,355 |
| Greenwich | £496,695 |
| Hackney | £672,942 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | £1,038,383 |
| Haringey | £691,947 |
| Harrow | £486,675 |
| Havering | £415,952 |
| Hillingdon | £483,519 |
| Hounslow | £592,760 |
| Islington | £843,626 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | £2,228,758 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £616,481 |
| Lambeth | £876,110 |
| Lewisham | £510,167 |
| Merton | £727,505 |
| Newham | £424,020 |
| Redbridge | £477,554 |
| Richmond upon Thames | £894,226 |
| Southwark | £706,537 |
| Sutton | £469,084 |
| Tower Hamlets | £570,146 |
| Waltham Forest | £521,638 |
| Wandsworth | £859,319 |
| Westminster | £1,065,940 |
Source: Zoopla & Rightmove
Read this guide and keen to buy a new-build in London? We offer a huge variety of high-quality homes, all in great locations. Why not check out our current developments here?
Sources:
1. https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk/scheme/help-to-buy-2021-2023/
2. https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk/scheme/help-to-buy-2021-2023/
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