UK plans first-home loan income caps, BBC reports
Households would need incomes below £110,000, or £140,000 for homes in London, under reported limits expected to be confirmed at the following week’s Budget.
Loading… Բեռնվում է…
Households would need incomes below £110,000, or £140,000 for homes in London, under reported limits expected to be confirmed at the following week’s Budget.
The UK government’s proposed Your First Home scheme would restrict access by household income, with a higher limit for homes in London, the BBC reported on 23 October 2026, citing The Times. The limits would determine which first-time buyers in England could qualify, but remain reported plans rather than confirmed Budget measures.
Earlier home-buying support schemes had no income test. The BBC said those schemes faced criticism for pushing up house prices by allowing relatively wealthy households to borrow more.
| Location of the home | Household income required |
|---|---|
| England outside London | Less than £110,000 |
| London | Less than £140,000 |
Your First Home would offer government-backed equity loans worth 20% of the value of new-build homes bought from participating developers in England. The loans are designed to help first-time buyers purchase with deposits as low as 2.5%, the BBC reported.
An equity loan is linked to the property’s value, so the amount owed changes as that value changes. The proposed loans would have an initial interest-free period, but its length has not been specified.
The earlier Help to Buy scheme also used equity loans. Its original version, which ran from 2013 to 2021, allowed a 5% deposit and offered loans that were interest-free for five years. A second version ran from 2021 to 2023 and limited access to first-time buyers, with regional property-price caps.
The government plans a 26 November start for suspensions covering 101 food and agricultural products, including garlic, gherkins and plant-based milk.
3 min
Labour says the scheme would be funded within existing government budgets, but has not identified which other spending would be cut. Participating developers would also be asked to contribute towards running costs.
The government argues that the scheme would help increase housebuilding, after ministers acknowledged they were set to miss their target of 1.5 million homes in England by the next election. The Conservatives have criticised Labour’s housebuilding record and warned that the developer levy could raise new-home prices. The Home Builders Federation, which represents developers, welcomed the plans and urged a quick launch.
An implementation timetable has not been specified. The next expected step is confirmation of the income limits at the Budget in the week after 23 October, according to the BBC report citing The Times.
The Budget preserves the £20,000 annual cash ISA allowance and proposes a 24% rate on savings and rental income for basic-rate taxpayers from April 2027.
2 min
Under the announced Your First Home terms, eligible first-time buyers purchasing qualifying new-build homes in England can seek a 20% equity loan with a deposit from 2.5%. Applications are scheduled to open in February 2027.
4 min