All practical guides
Help to Buy has closed: what replaced it in Norfolk
Help to Buy ended in 2022. Here is what first-time buyers in Norfolk can use now: First Homes, Shared Ownership, the Lifetime ISA, Freedom to Buy.
Help to Buy closed to new applicants on 31 October 2022 and to new-build completions on 31 March 2023 (extended to 31 May 2023 for homebuilders who applied). Nothing has filled its exact shape since: a government equity loan on a new-build home, open to movers as well as first-time buyers. What replaced it is a set of narrower schemes, each solving one piece of the problem. Here is what each one is, who it works for, and how it looks in Norfolk.
First Homes: a 30 to 50% discount, kept forever
First Homes is the government’s main first-time buyer scheme in England. A developer sells a new-build home to a first-time buyer at a discount of between 30% and 50% of its market value. The discount is tied to the property, so when the buyer sells, the next buyer gets the same discount on the next sale price. The home stays below market value in perpetuity.
The rules are set by central government. Buyers must be 18 or older, first-time buyers, and must have a household income of £80,000 or less (£90,000 in London). The property must be your only or main residence, and you need a mortgage for at least half the discounted price. The local council sets the discount within the 30 to 50% band, and in the first three months of sale it can give priority to key workers, existing residents or lower-income buyers.
In Norfolk the scheme runs through planning. The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, for example, sets a target of 25% First Homes in the affordable-housing mix on new sites. The practical point is that First Homes appear on new estates as a small share of plots, allocated as the site builds out, not as a separate scheme buyers apply to centrally. The route in is to watch new-build sites in Norfolk and register with the developer.
Shared Ownership: buy a slice, rent the rest
Shared Ownership lets you buy a share of a home from a housing association and pay rent on the rest. Under the current model, the minimum initial share is 10% of market value, down from 25% under the old rules. You can staircase up over time; new-model leases allow this in 1% increments for the first 15 years, instead of the old 5 to 10% jumps. Leases are 990 years. For the first ten years the landlord pays up to £500 a year toward essential repairs.
Household income has to be £80,000 or less (£90,000 in London). Homes are offered by housing associations and local councils; in Norfolk the main providers include Flagship Housing, Clarion, Saffron and Broadland Housing. New plots appear on larger developments across Norwich, Attleborough, Wymondham, King’s Lynn and the Great Yarmouth growth corridor. You pay a mortgage on the share you buy, rent on the share the housing association keeps, and a service charge on top. The rent is below market level, but it is still rent, and it rises every year.
Moving to Norfolk this year?
Get the free Norfolk Relocation Pack: all 46 towns we cover on one table, on price, council tax, population, trains and distance to Norwich, plus a week-by-week move checklist. The download appears here as soon as you enter your email.
Unsubscribe any time.
Lifetime ISA: a 25% top-up, with a sting if you miss
The Lifetime ISA runs through any UK saver aged 18 to 39. You can save up to £4,000 a year inside it; the government adds a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 a year. Contributions can continue until age 50. Withdrawals are penalty-free if the money buys your first home, if you are 60 or over, or if you are terminally ill with under 12 months to live. Any other withdrawal is charged at 25% of the amount taken out. The charge applies to the whole withdrawal, not only the government bonus, so you can end up with less than you put in.
The first-home rule has a property price cap of £450,000. The cap has been frozen since the scheme launched in 2017. The Treasury Committee reviewed it in 2025 and the government confirmed in May 2026 that neither the cap nor the 25% penalty will change in the short term, though a wider consultation on replacing the Lifetime ISA with a simpler first-home ISA is scheduled for 2026, with any new product unlikely to be in place before 2027 to 2028.
In Norfolk the £450,000 cap is almost never a problem. The HM Land Registry UKHPI first-time buyer average for Norfolk in July 2026 was £224,967, less than half the cap. A buyer could hit the cap in parts of the Golden Triangle in Norwich or on the north coast between Burnham Market and Blakeney, but almost nowhere else in the county. The scheme is a straightforward add-on for most Norfolk first-time buyers; the risk is tying up money you may later need for something else.
Freedom to Buy: the 95% mortgage scheme
The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme that followed Help to Buy ended as a temporary scheme in June 2025 and was replaced by Freedom to Buy, a permanent 95% loan-to-value scheme announced by the government in July 2025. The structure is the same: lenders offer 95% mortgages, the government guarantees part of the lender’s loss if the loan defaults. Buyers do not apply to the scheme. They apply for a normal 95% mortgage from a participating lender; Nationwide, NatWest, Halifax, Barclays, Santander, HSBC and Virgin Money are all in.
The property has to be your residence, not a buy-to-let or a second home, costing £600,000 or less. Loans have to be on a repayment basis. You need a deposit of at least 5% and the lender’s standard affordability tests still apply; the scheme does not loosen underwriting, only deposit size. In Norfolk the £600,000 ceiling is a non-issue outside a handful of streets. On the Norwich first-time buyer average of £202,230 (HM Land Registry, July 2026), a 5% deposit is £10,112. See the detail in buying your first home in Norwich.
Help to Buy ISA: closed to new accounts, open for old ones
You can no longer open a Help to Buy ISA. Accounts opened before 30 November 2019 still work: you can keep saving into them until 30 November 2029, and claim the 25% government bonus (up to £3,000) when you buy, as long as the home costs £250,000 or less outside London. The bonus itself must be claimed by 1 December 2030. If you still hold one, keep going. If you do not, the Lifetime ISA is the current route and the £450,000 cap is a lot more generous than the £250,000 one it replaced.
What this looks like for a Norfolk buyer
The honest version for most first-time buyers in Norfolk: open a Lifetime ISA now if you are under 40 and plan to buy in the next few years; take the 25% government bonus; apply for a normal 95% mortgage from a participating lender once you have your deposit, which uses the Freedom to Buy guarantee on the lender’s side. First Homes and Shared Ownership are site-by-site: worth watching on specific new-build developments, especially if your household income is well under £80,000, but not available everywhere and not a scheme you queue up for in advance.
Shared Ownership makes most sense when you can afford the deposit on a small share but could not afford a full mortgage on the whole home. The rent-plus-service-charge sum is the number to check; on a 25% share, you may still be spending close to what a 100% mortgage on a cheaper home would cost, without owning any more of it. First Homes is simpler, if you can find one: a discount you keep. For the wider price picture, see the Norfolk property market; for cheaper parts of the county, the list of most affordable places in Norfolk.
Frequently asked questions
Is Help to Buy coming back?
There is no plan to reinstate the Help to Buy equity loan. The current government’s first-time-buyer policy is Freedom to Buy for 95% mortgages and First Homes for new-build discounts; both are permanent.
Can I use a Lifetime ISA and Freedom to Buy together?
Yes. The Lifetime ISA bonus goes toward the deposit; Freedom to Buy lets the lender offer the 95% mortgage once the deposit is ready. They solve different problems and sit side by side.
Where do First Homes appear in Norfolk?
On new-build estates, as a share of plots agreed through planning. The share varies by council; in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk it is 25% of the affordable-housing allocation. Register directly with developers on sites you are interested in.
What is the price cap on a Lifetime ISA home in Norfolk?
£450,000. The Norfolk first-time buyer average in July 2026 was £224,967, so the cap bites only on the very top end of the county.
Does Shared Ownership count as owning a home for stamp duty?
Yes, once you have bought a share you are an owner. First-time buyer stamp duty relief can apply if you choose to pay stamp duty on the full market value at the start; most buyers pay on the share and lose the relief at staircasing instead. Which route costs less depends on the home price and share size.
Sources
- gov.uk, First Homes scheme: gov.uk/first-homes-scheme.
- gov.uk, Lifetime ISA: gov.uk/lifetime-isa.
- gov.uk, Shared Ownership scheme: gov.uk/shared-ownership-scheme.
- gov.uk, affordable home ownership schemes: gov.uk/affordable-home-ownership-schemes.
- HM Treasury, Freedom to Buy announcement and Mortgage Guarantee Scheme replacement (July 2025).
- Treasury Committee, Lifetime ISA review 2025; government response confirming £450,000 cap and 25% withdrawal charge unchanged, May 2026.
- Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, First Homes guidance note for developers.
- HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index, Norfolk first-time buyer average July 2026: Land Registry UKHPI.
Written by James Ward for Norfolk Living Guide. Figures were checked against the linked sources on 5 October 2026. Scheme rules, price caps and participating lenders change, so verify the figure you plan to use before you commit.
Planning a move to Norfolk?
Our guides to hiring the firms a move needs.
We earn no commission on these links. Paid placements are sold separately and always labelled. See our advertising and disclosure page.
