Getting onto the property ladder in the UK has never been about waiting for prices to fall; it is about knowing which government scheme turns your existing savings and income into a home. Four schemes currently cover the range — the Help to Buy ISA for the grandfathered few, the Lifetime ISA for everyone now saving, Shared Ownership for those who cannot raise a full deposit, and First Homes for the discount on new-builds. Each one is a different deal with different limits, and the difference between choosing well and badly is often the difference between owning in two years and saving for eight.
The Homeowner ISA (HTB ISA): closed, but still alive for holders
The Help to Buy ISA rewarded first-time buyers with a 25% government bonus when they bought their first home. It is now closed to new applicants, but if you already hold one you can keep saving into it and still collect the bonus. The mechanics: save up to £200 a month into it, on top of an initial deposit of up to £1,200, and the government adds 25% when you complete, capped at £3,000 — which takes £12,000 of savings to reach. You must be 16 or over, the home must cost £250,000 or less (£450,000 in London), and the scheme is good for one property only.
| HTB ISA feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Monthly saving limit | £200 |
| Maximum bonus | £3,000 |
| Minimum savings for bonus | £1,600 |
| Property price limit | £250,000 (£450,000 in London) |
| Availability | Closed to new applicants |
It is free money, simple and a genuine nudge to save regularly — but the monthly cap is low, the property ceiling is tighter than the Lifetime ISA’s, and the bonus takes years to build up. If you can still save into one, treat it as a modest top-up, not a plan.
The Lifetime ISA: the main event
The Lifetime ISA (LISA) replaced the Help to Buy ISA for new savers and is currently the most popular government scheme for first-time buyers, for a simple reason: it pays substantially more. You can save up to £4,000 per tax year, the government adds a 25% bonus worth up to £1,000 a year, and the money can buy your first home for up to £450,000 anywhere in the UK, or sit there as a retirement pot if you never buy.
| LISA feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Annual saving limit | £4,000 |
| Maximum bonus per year | £1,000 |
| Property price limit | £450,000 |
| Age to open | 18-39 |
| Age to use for home | 12 months after opening |
| Available as | Cash LISA or Stocks & Shares LISA |
The flexibility is real: no monthly saving limit, so you can contribute £4,000 in one go at the start of a tax year and bank the bonus, and it can be held as cash or invested through a Stocks & Shares LISA for potentially higher returns. The conditions are equally real. You must be 18-39 to open it, the money must sit there for 12 months before it can be used for a home, it counts toward your £20,000 ISA allowance, and withdrawing for anything other than a qualifying first home or retirement draws a 25% penalty. The £450,000 cap can also bite in the most expensive corners of London and the South East. For everyone saving toward a typical first home under that ceiling, it is the best tax-advantaged deal available.
Shared Ownership: buying a slice
Shared Ownership solves a different problem: not “how do I maximise my bonus” but “how do I buy anything at all with a modest deposit.” You buy a share of a property — usually between 25% and 75% — and pay rent on the remainder to a housing association, which owns the rest. Over time you can buy more shares in a process called staircasing, typically in 10% increments, until you own 100% and the rent stops.
| Shared Ownership feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Minimum share | 25% |
| Maximum share | 75% |
| Who owns the rest | Housing association |
| Rent on remaining share | Usually 2.75% of the unsold share per year |
| Eligibility | Household income under £80,000 (£90,000 in London) |
| Property type | New-build or resale (via housing association) |
Because the deposit is based on your share rather than the full price, the ladder is dramatically closer. A £300,000 home bought at 40% requires a deposit on £120,000, not £300,000. Some schemes even offer reduced or subsidised rent. The honest costs: you pay rent on what you do not own, each staircasing step brings revaluation and legal fees, the housing association may hold a right of first refusal with its own buyer list when you sell, and your share can behave differently from the full property’s value. It is the scheme for people who cannot stretch to an outright purchase but can genuinely climb one step at a time.
First Homes: the new-build discount
First Homes takes the opposite route from bonuses and deposits: no assistance at all, just a direct cut in the sticker price. New-build homes are sold at a discount of at least 30% below market value to local first-time buyers — sometimes more — and that discount is locked into the property, so it applies again when you resell. You simply need a mortgage (or savings) for the discounted price, and the home is yours outright: no rent, no shared ownership, no staircasing.
| First Homes feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Minimum discount | 30% |
| Maximum property price | Set locally (varies by area) |
| Income limit | £80,000 (£90,000 in London) |
| Local connection | Required (live or work in the area) |
| Available to | First-time buyers only |
The elegance is that a 30% discount means a 30% smaller mortgage and a much smaller deposit, with a discount that survives resale, so the affordability stays with the community. The limits are the story too: availability depends on each local council and developer, it is new-build only, a local connection is mandatory, and the income caps apply. For the right buyer in the right area it is the best single deal on this page.
The four schemes compared
| Feature | Help to Buy ISA | Lifetime ISA | Shared Ownership | First Homes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit help | 25% bonus (max £3,000) | 25% bonus (max £1,000/year) | Smaller deposit needed | 30%+ discount on price |
| Property limit | £250,000 (£450k London) | £450,000 | Varies by area | Varies by area |
| Age limit | 16+ | 18-39 to open | 18+ | 18+ |
| Income limit | None | None | £80,000 (£90k London) | £80,000 (£90k London) |
| Monthly cost | Up to £200 | Up to £333/month | Rent on unsold share | Mortgage only |
| Availability | Closed to new applicants | Open | Open | Open (limited areas) |
| Can you own 100%? | Yes | Yes | Yes (via staircasing) | Yes |
Matching the scheme to the person
For most first-time buyers aged 18-39 buying a home under £450,000, the Lifetime ISA should be the default — it is the biggest bonus available and, through a Stocks & Shares LISA, the only one that can also grow in the market while you save. Open it early, because the 12-month waiting period means the clock starts before you can buy. Providers such as Moneybox, Skipton and AJ Bell offer them in cash or invested form. If you cannot raise a full deposit but could afford to own a share of a home, Shared Ownership beats renting while you wait — register with your local housing association, check eligibility against the income limits, and treat staircasing as the plan, not the hope. If you have a local connection to an area with First Homes developments and your household income is under £80,000 (£90,000 in London), a discounted new-build is a fast, clean route to outright ownership. And if you still hold a Help to Buy ISA, keep paying it in and take the £3,000 bonus when you complete — but do not build your whole plan around it.
The ladder, one rung at a time
Whichever scheme you pick, the same groundwork applies: budget for stamp duty, solicitor fees, surveys and moving costs on top of the deposit; never borrow the maximum just because a lender offers it; sort your credit report well before you apply; and think about resale before you buy, because Shared Ownership and First Homes both carry restrictions the open market does not. The schemes are not competing with each other so much as covering different rungs of the same ladder — one page above savings, one below outright purchase. Match the scheme to where you actually are, and the annual LISA bonus, the 30% discount, or the smaller shared-ownership deposit becomes less a government handout than the nudge that makes the maths finally work.