Buying your first home is most likely going to be one of the most exciting times of your life. Here at Space Homes, we know just how exciting stepping on the property ladder is, which is why we've put together our top 5 reasons why buying your first home brings advantages, not just excitement!
 

Stamp duty

When buying a residential property, you will be charged stamp duty. This is designed to cover the cost of legal documents for the transaction. Stamp duty rates are paid on a sliding scale based on the total price of the property within each tax band.
 
If you’re a first time buyer, you don’t have to pay any stamp duty on properties worth up to £300,000.

So, if you were buying a £200,000 property, you’d spend approximately £1500 on stamp duty. But, being a first time buyer means you don’t have to worry about this!
 

Speedier process

Once your offer has been accepted on a property, you’re ready to move in. Unlike a second stepper, you don’t have to wait for your current home to sell.
 
You don’t have to rely on anyone else to move forward with your process, which takes out some stress and pressure.
 

Exciting prospect

Buying your first home is most likely going to be the biggest commitment you'll ever make, which brings a relm of excitement with it! 

Whether you decide to buy a new build home or an older property, you'll be able to make the home your own from the moment you move in. Buying new interior, getting stuck into some DIY and painting/decorating your own home means you can design your home how you like. 
 

Help to Buy

Of course, we couldn’t go without mentioning Help to Buy. The Government-backed scheme means you only need a 5% deposit of the total value of the property you want to buy. The government will loan you 20% of the price, and the remaining 75% will be your mortgage.
 
If you’re a first time buyer but not looking to buy a new home in the next year or so, you’re in luck. The current scheme will run till 2021 and a new scheme, starting in 2023 will be restricted to first time buyers.
 
This means first time buyers will have access to Help to Buy until 2023.

To read more about the scheme, click here.

 
Shared Ownership

If you’re a first time buyer and your household income is less than £80,000, you might be eligible to take out a Shared Ownership mortgage.
 
This means you’ll take out a mortgage for a percentage of a property and we will own the rest. You then pay an affordable rent on the remaining share. But that doesn’t have to last forever. When the times right for you, you can buy more shares of the property and eventually own 100%.
 
Read more about the scheme here or contact our team to discuss your buying options here.