Buying Your First Home in 2025: Key Advice for UK First-Time Buyers

First-Time Buyer Advice: A Realistic Guide for 2025

Buying your first home is one of the biggest milestones in life. For most people, it represents far more than simply getting the keys to a property — it’s about stability, independence, and building a future. Yet in today’s housing market, that journey has never been more complicated. For many, it feels like a goal that is just out of reach, and the statistics confirm why.

Since the mid-2000s, millions of potential first-time buyers have been locked out of homeownership. Research suggests that since 2006, more than two million people who were expected to purchase their first property never managed to do so. At the same time, a study of renters aged 20 to 44 found that only about one in ten could realistically afford to buy a property under current conditions. For single young adults, the number is closer to three in one hundred. These figures highlight the scale of the challenge: affordability, deposits, and wage stagnation all combine to make the path to ownership difficult.

The Challenges Facing First-Time Buyers - buying your first home in 2025

When you speak with first-time buyers across the country, the same issues come up again and again.

Deposits remain the number one barrier. Property prices may have cooled slightly in some regions, but they are still far outpacing wage growth. In many areas, a ten per cent deposit amounts to £25,000 or more, and in London the figure can easily exceed £40,000. For most young professionals or couples, saving this amount feels like an impossible task without outside help.

The costs of buying are higher than ever. Beyond the deposit, there are legal fees, survey costs, and mortgage product fees. Stamp Duty Land Tax has been eased for first-time buyers, with relief on homes valued up to £500,000, and the first £300,000 completely exempt. That helps, but it doesn’t remove the other unavoidable costs. According to recent data, the average first-time buyer now faces more than £13,500 in upfront expenses — almost 50% more than just five years ago.

Mortgage approval is another obstacle. Even when you have the deposit, lenders apply strict affordability checks. They want to see steady income, low levels of debt, and evidence of financial discipline. For the self-employed, those on short-term contracts, or anyone who recently changed jobs, this can create significant delays or even rejections.

Long mortgage terms are becoming the norm. Thirty or even thirty-five year terms are increasingly common for first-time buyers. While this reduces monthly repayments, it means committing to debt for most of your working life. Combined with uncertain interest rate changes, the prospect of decades of repayments can be daunting.

The Opportunities Worth Knowing About

Despite the difficulties, there are reasons to remain optimistic. In recent years, new legislation and government-backed schemes have emerged to make the path to homeownership more achievable. Remember: buying your first home in 2025 is the target for this year.

From London to anywhere in the UK, first-time buyers can access the help they need.

The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, now permanent, is a lifeline for buyers with small deposits. It encourages lenders to offer mortgages with just five per cent down by providing a government guarantee. This doesn’t reduce the interest rate — in fact, 95% mortgages usually carry slightly higher rates — but it does lower the barrier to entry for those who can handle the monthly repayments but haven’t yet managed to save a large deposit.

Another significant policy is Stamp Duty Relief for first-time buyers. If you purchase a property for £500,000 or less in England or Northern Ireland, the first £300,000 is tax-free. For a property worth £250,000, that can mean paying no Stamp Duty at all. This relief has been in place for several years now, and it remains one of the most tangible financial advantages for people stepping onto the ladder.

There is also growing discussion around changes to mortgage regulation. The Financial Conduct Authority has been reviewing affordability rules, with the aim of allowing more flexibility for buyers who might have non-traditional income streams. This is particularly relevant for younger workers in the gig economy or those who are self-employed. While the rules remain strict, there is hope that in the coming years, they will be adjusted to reflect how people actually earn today.

Practical Ways to Overcome the Difficulties

The biggest question for most buyers is: how do I actually make it happen? There isn’t one single answer, but there are several strategies that can help close the gap.

Saving smarter. Government-supported accounts like the Lifetime ISA can boost your savings with a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 a year. For someone saving steadily over five years, that’s an extra £5,000 added to their deposit at no cost. Beyond that, structured budgeting, cutting non-essential spending, or even moving back home temporarily can make a surprising difference in how quickly a deposit grows.

If you’re not sure how to start structuring your savings and future costs, you can use tools like the MyMo Plan First-Time Buyer Scenario Analysis to see how your finances might look over 5 years — including mortgage repayments, living costs, and potential overpayments.

Exploring alternative routes. Shared Ownership schemes allow buyers to purchase a portion of a property — often between 25% and 75% — and pay rent on the rest. It’s not perfect, as you’re still paying rent, but it does allow you to get onto the ladder with a smaller deposit and build equity over time. The First Homes scheme is another option, offering properties at 30% to 50% below market value for eligible buyers. Each of these schemes has rules and restrictions, but for some they can be the only practical way in.

For a deeper breakdown of these schemes, check out the MyMo Blog where we explain how each one works and who they benefit most.

Family support. Increasingly, deposits come not from individual savings but from parents or grandparents. Known as the “Bank of Mum and Dad,” this support has grown so common that it accounts for billions of pounds in contributions each year. For those without this option, joint borrower schemes — where a parent’s income is considered alongside yours, without them owning the property — can also make the difference in getting approved.

Thinking long-term, not just short-term. It’s easy to focus only on the deposit, but the real test is affordability over the life of the mortgage. Interest rates may rise, incomes may fluctuate, and life events will happen. It’s important to model how your finances might look not only in year one, but in year ten. What happens if your payments increase by £200 a month? Could you still manage if you started a family or changed jobs? These are questions every buyer should ask early.

One way to stress-test your future is to run “what if” scenarios — for example, how your finances cope if interest rates rise. MyMo Plan Reports let you play with these variables before committing to a property.

The Bigger Picture

First-time buyers are the foundation of the entire housing market. Without them, existing owners struggle to sell, and the property chain weakens. That’s why there is so much political attention on helping this group. And while the statistics are sobering — with millions priced out and affordability stretched to breaking point — the opportunities are real for those who can prepare carefully and make use of the support available.

Buying a first home has never been easy, but today it demands even more planning, patience, and resourcefulness. There are ways through the difficulties: making use of tax relief, exploring government schemes, saving with discipline, and building financial resilience for the long term.

For some, the process will still feel frustratingly slow. Yet for those who stay the course, the reward is more than a set of keys — it’s the foundation of future security, the ability to build equity instead of paying rent, and the confidence of owning a place you can truly call home.

If you’re ready to explore what your own journey could look like, visit www.mymoplan.co.uk to try out our planning tools and resources designed exclusively for first-time buyers.