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Your First Home in Norfolk: who qualifies, what it lends and when it opens
Your First Home lends first-time buyers 20% of a new-build home's price, with sales from April 2027. Who qualifies, the dates, and what Norfolk buyers pay now.
Your First Home is a new government loan for first-time buyers in England. It lends 20% of the price of a new-build home, and the deposit can be as small as 2.5%. Pre-registration opens by the end of December, applications are expected in February 2027 and the first sales in April 2027. The one thing a Norfolk buyer most needs is still missing. The price caps for each area had not been published when we checked on 2 November 2026, and neither had the list of builders taking part, so nobody can yet say which homes here will qualify.
It covers new-build homes only. If the house you want is a Victorian terrace or a village cottage, this scheme will not help you buy it.
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What it lends and what it costs
You put down at least 2.5% of the price and no more than 15%. The government lends 20%. A repayment mortgage from a lender in the scheme covers the rest. You own the whole home from the day you complete, and the government is neither a joint owner nor your landlord, so there is no rent.
The loan is interest-free for five years. The rate is 1.5% in year six and 3% from year seven. You pay the interest separately from the mortgage, and paying it does not reduce what you owe.
What you owe moves with the house. You repay 20% of its value at the time, normally when you sell, though you can repay some or all of it earlier. On a £300,000 home later valued at £320,000, you would repay £64,000; at £280,000 you would repay £56,000. The rules on minimum repayments, valuations and fees have not been published.
The government’s own example is a £300,000 home bought with a £7,500 deposit, a £60,000 loan and a £232,500 mortgage, at 5% over 30 years. It costs £1,248 a month for the first five years, against £1,530 with a standard 95% mortgage. That rises to £1,323 in year six and £1,398 from year seven, still below the 95% mortgage.
Take a new terraced house in Norfolk at the median price of the year to June 2026, £262,500 (HM Land Registry). If it falls under the local cap, the minimum deposit is £6,562.50, the loan £52,500 and the mortgage £203,437.50. Worked the same way as the government’s example, the loan interest would be about £66 a month in year six and £131 from year seven.
Who can use it
You need to be a first-time buyer with a household income of £110,000 or less (£140,000 in London). The home has to be a new build in England, within the local price cap, and it has to be your main home. You also need a mortgage from a lender in the scheme, which will run its normal affordability and credit checks. The government says the scheme is meant for buyers who would struggle to buy without help, and the full eligibility rules come before applications open.
A site qualifies only if its builder signs up. Builders sign a participation agreement and pay a fee on each sale: 1% on their first 100 homes a year through the scheme, 3% on the next 150 and 4% after that.
The money is limited each year: £700 million in 2027 to 2028, then £1 billion in each of the four years after, £4.7 billion in all. The Budget expects it to help about 70,000 households.
The dates
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| By the end of December 2026 | Pre-registration and guidance for buyers; the first builders sign up |
| February 2027 | First applications expected |
| April 2027 | First loans and first sales |
Pre-registration does not commit you to buying through the scheme. It will give you more information on your eligibility and the price cap in your area. There was no pre-registration page on GOV.UK when we checked on 2 November. The Budget says Homes England will run the scheme at first.
What first-time buyers pay in Norfolk
Each cap will be set from local authority median prices, the Budget says. The government’s published examples outside London run from £220,000 in Middlesbrough to £375,000 in Reading, with North Devon at £320,000. North Devon is a district council area, like each of Norfolk’s seven, so each Norfolk district may get its own cap. None of Norfolk’s had been published on 2 November.
The table shows what first-time buyers paid in August 2026, the latest month in HM Land Registry’s house price index. It is not a guide to the caps. In each of the government’s four examples the cap is well above what first-time buyers there paid on average: Middlesbrough’s average was £128,017 against its £220,000 cap, and North Devon’s £227,377 against £320,000.
| Area | First-time buyer average, August 2026 |
|---|---|
| Broadland | £270,304 |
| South Norfolk | £253,657 |
| North Norfolk | £232,909 |
| Breckland | £223,317 |
| King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | £221,355 |
| Norwich | £205,202 |
| Great Yarmouth | £178,630 |
| Norfolk | £224,368 |
| England | £246,042 |
Those averages cover old and new homes that first-time buyers bought with a mortgage. New homes in Norfolk cost more. In the year to June 2026 the median new-build sale was £330,000, against £270,000 for an older home, and only 70 of the 589 new-build sales were at £250,000 or less (HM Land Registry, standard sales). Where each district’s cap lands against those prices will decide how much of Norfolk’s new building the scheme reaches.
Our list of new-build developments in Norfolk has the sites on sale now and their prices. Until the builders and the caps are published, none of them can be said to qualify.
How it compares with the other schemes
| Scheme | What you buy | Household income limit outside London | Ongoing cost on top of the mortgage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your First Home | The whole home, with a 20% government loan | £110,000 | Loan interest from year six |
| Shared ownership | A share of 10% to 75% | £80,000 | Rent on the rest; every home is leasehold |
| First Homes | The whole home, at 30% to 50% below market value | £80,000 | No rent or loan interest |
Shared ownership needs a mortgage only on the share you buy, plus rent on the rest. Your First Home needs a mortgage on 65% to 77.5% of the price, depending on the deposit, but there is no rent and you own all of it. Shared ownership is also open to some people who have owned a home before. Our shared ownership guide has the Norfolk providers and the rent rules.
First Homes carry no rent or loan interest, but the discount stays with the house: when you sell, you sell at the same percentage below market value. A new-build First Home can cost no more than £250,000 after the discount outside London, and you need a mortgage for at least half the price. Our first-time buyers guide covers where they appear.
Help to Buy, the government equity loan that came before it, no longer takes applications in England. Its loans charged 1.75% in year six, and the rate then rose every April, by CPI inflation plus 2% on loans from 2021. There is also a £1 monthly fee. Your First Home’s published rates are 1.5% in year six and 3% from year seven, and its fees are not yet known. What replaced Help to Buy covers the other routes still open.
Your First Home suits a first-time buyer with enough income for the mortgage but only a small deposit, who wants a new home. The first five years cost less each month than a 95% mortgage on the same house. The loan interest then adds to the monthly cost, though in the government’s example it stays below the 95% mortgage, and because you repay 20% of the home’s value at the time, the government shares any rise or fall. If you cannot borrow at least 65% of a new home’s price, or 77.5% with the minimum deposit, it will not get you in. Shared ownership, with a mortgage only on your share, or a First Home at 30% to 50% off may be within reach instead.
The Lifetime ISA changes
The same Budget changed the Lifetime ISA. Since 29 October 2026, a first-time buyer who uses one on a home costing more than £450,000 pays a 20% withdrawal charge, down from 25%. Any other early withdrawal still costs 25%. Existing holders can carry on under the current rules.
From April 2029 a First Time Buyer ISA replaces it for new savers. You will be able to pay in up to £4,000 a year, with a 25% bonus paid when you withdraw for a first home worth up to £450,000. The bonus is capped at £20,000, and there is no upper age limit.
In Norfolk the £450,000 limit sits far above what first-time buyers pay: Broadland’s average, the highest in the table, is £270,304. The Your First Home page does not say whether Lifetime ISA savings can go towards its deposit. Our guide to buying a first home in Norwich works through stamp duty and the other costs of buying.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Your First Home scheme?
A government equity loan of 20% of the price of a new-build home in England, for first-time buyers with a household income of £110,000 or less outside London. You need a deposit of at least 2.5% and a repayment mortgage for the rest. The loan is interest-free for five years.
When does Your First Home open?
Pre-registration opens by the end of December 2026, applications are expected from February 2027 and the first sales from April 2027. Pre-registering does not commit you to buying through the scheme.
What is the Your First Home price cap in Norfolk?
It had not been published when we checked on 2 November 2026. Caps will be set by local authority area from median prices, and the government’s examples outside London run from £220,000 in Middlesbrough to £375,000 in Reading.
Can I use Your First Home to buy an older house?
No. It covers new-build homes from builders taking part in the scheme, within the local price cap.
Is Your First Home the same as First Homes?
No. First Homes are sold at 30% to 50% below market value, and the discount stays with the home when you sell. Your First Home is a loan of 20% of the price, repaid as 20% of the home’s value, with interest from year six.
How we produced this guide
Scheme facts are from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Your First Home page on GOV.UK, published 28 October 2026, and HM Treasury’s Budget 2026 (HC 726, paragraphs 5.5 to 5.9, 6.239 and 6.240), both read on 2 November 2026. The shared ownership, First Homes, Help to Buy and Lifetime ISA rules are from their GOV.UK guides, read the same day. First-time buyer averages are from the HM Land Registry UK House Price Index for August 2026, published on 21 October 2026; recent months get revised, and the index counts as first-time buyers only those who bought with a mortgage. The comparison of the government’s example caps with those areas’ first-time buyer averages is our own. The new-build and older-home medians are our calculation from HM Land Registry Price Paid Data for standard sales from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, and the Land Registry adds sales as they are registered, so the latest months will grow. The Norfolk example and its interest figures are our arithmetic on the government’s published rates. Last updated: 2 November 2026. Author: James Ward, Money and Property Finance Editor.
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