First time
buyers

If you’re buying a residential property for the first time, you’re a first time buyer. If you’ve owned a home in the past, but then sold it or inherited a property, you’re not a first time buyer.

At Setl, we have six low-cost affordable homes available for first time buyers who meet the eligibility criteria, offering a discount of 40%.

To meet the criteria, you must be over 18 years old, a first time buyer either living or working in Birmingham and with an annual income not exceeding £35,000 for a single applicant, or £50,000 for a couple. Please get in touch with our team and find out if you qualify.

If you don’t meet the criteria, don’t worry – we have a range of homes to suit all budgets and we’re on hand to help choose the right apartment for you.

Aim to save at least 5% of the cost of the home you want. For example, an apartment costing £255,000, you’d need a deposit of at least £12,250. Saving a larger percentage will provide access to more options when it comes to mortgage deals and available interest rates.

Make sure you’re clear on how much you can comfortably afford to borrow – a good mortgage broker will be invaluable. As a starting point to understand how much money you’ll need to borrow and how much deposit you’ll need to save, this mortgage calculator is a useful tool.

It’s usually a quick and easy process to secure a mortgage in principle. In a nutshell, it’s a certificate-type document to confirm that a mortgage lender would be willing to lend to you based on basic financial information. Your mortgage broker will be able to help with this.

First time buyers purchasing an apartment at Setl would not be liable for stamp duty, but for those looking to purchase elsewhere, the HMRC SDLT calculator is a helpful tool.

Unfortunately Help to Buy was not replaced when it ended in March 2023, but there are still a number of options which could prove useful. The Lifetime ISA is a savings account which lets you pay in up to £4,000 a year, to which the government will add a 25% bonus up to £1,000 per year. The home must be valued under £450,000.

There’s also the First Homes scheme, run by the government for first time buyers in England. You may be able to purchase a property for 30-50% less than its market value but it only applies to properties advertised by developers that participate in the scheme.

It can feel odd thinking about selling a property you haven’t yet bought, but it’s important to do just that; is it in a sought after location and will it prove easy to sell when you’re ready to move on? It’s a conversation we’ve had with lots of our buyers at Setl, who can rest assured that their property at the heart of the Jewellery Quarter will always appeal to future buyers. It isn’t just a beautiful home where you’ll enjoy living, for however long that may be, but it’s a sound investment for the future.

As a rough guide, you should expect it to take around 12 weeks from start to finish – although for first time buyers purchasing a new home at a scheme like Setl, the process may well complete sooner.

Savills are Setl’s property agents and have been helping people find their first homes for over 160 years. Complete our online booking form to get in touch with Savills and arrange a time to look around.