The headline sounded good for sellers. The small print does not.
At the Budget on 28 October the Government announced “Your First Home”, a scheme to help first-time buyers in England. Reading the coverage, you could be forgiven for thinking a wave of new buyers was about to arrive for every home on the market.
It isn’t. According to the GOV.UK publication, the scheme is designed for first-time buyers purchasing a new-build home in England, from developers taking part in the scheme. Existing homes are not eligible. If you are selling a second-hand house or flat, these buyers cannot use the scheme to buy yours.
What the scheme actually offers
According to GOV.UK, buyers get an equity loan of 20% of the purchase price. It is interest-free for the first five years, then charges 1.5% in year six and 3% from year seven. The deposit is at least 2.5%. Household income is capped at £110,000, or £140,000 in London, and price caps are set by area. GOV.UK gives examples including £375,000 in Reading, £650,000 in inner London and £500,000 in outer London, with a full list to follow.
On timing, pre-registration is expected before the end of 2026 and applications are expected to open in February 2027. Further eligibility rules are still to be published. Some commentary suggests the deposit can be higher than 2.5%, up to 15%, but we could only confirm the 2.5% minimum on GOV.UK.
What this means if you are selling an existing home
It does not add buyers to your market. The people the scheme helps will be steered towards new-build developments. Those developments are, in effect, competitors for the same pool of first-time buyers.
It does not help you this winter. Even for new-build, applications are not expected until February 2027. A sale you need to complete in the coming weeks will not see any benefit.
It may make your market more crowded, not less. If some first-time buyers choose to wait for the scheme, they may hold off on buying existing homes, including yours.
The market you are really selling into
The rest of the picture is more sobering. Nationwide reports house price growth of just 0.5% in the year to October 2026, the weakest since January 2024, with prices flat over the month. Zoopla figures cited by the Guild of Property Professionals show agreed sales down 7% on a year earlier over the previous four weeks, with the number of homes for sale up 7%. The same commentary says homes that do attract buyers take an average of 44 days to sell, before conveyancing starts.
The Budget also left stamp duty rates and thresholds unchanged, so there is no new tax cut coming to energise buyers. Waiting for a post-Budget bounce is a gamble, not a plan.
Four myths sellers are repeating right now
“The government is helping buyers, so my sale will pick up.” Not if the help is for new-build only.
“I’ll wait until spring.” Spring brings more stock as well as more buyers. You would also pay another winter of mortgage payments, bills and insurance on a home you want gone.
“My agent says it’s a good time to list.” Agents are paid when a sale completes, not when you are stressed. Ask them for a realistic completion date, and what happens if the buyer’s mortgage offer expires.
“A lower price will sort it.” Sometimes. But a price cut after weeks on the market can signal desperation to buyers, who then negotiate harder.
The alternative: a cash sale
A cash buyer does not depend on a mortgage, a chain or a first-time buyer’s scheme. At Property Offers, we buy houses and flats across the UK, in any condition, and can complete in as little as 7 to 28 days. That is your timetable, not ours. Selling to a cash buyer usually means accepting a price below full market value in return for speed and certainty. For some sellers, that trade is worth it. For others it is not, and we will tell you so honestly.
If you are facing repossession risk, a divorce, a short lease, a tenanted property or just need to move, get a cash offer alongside your agent’s valuation and compare the two on price, timescale and risk of collapse. There is no cost and no obligation.
Comparing the real cost of each route
When you compare a cash offer with an open-market sale, look beyond the headline price. Add up estate agent fees, any further price reductions, the mortgage payments, utility bills, council tax and insurance you will keep paying while you wait, and the chance that the sale falls through and you start again. A lower cash figure that completes in weeks can sometimes leave you in a similar position to a higher figure that takes months, and sometimes it will not. Do the sum with your own numbers before you decide.
Need to sell without the wait?
Tell us about your property and we will give you a no-obligation cash offer, usually the same day. No fees, no chain, no pressure. Lines open 24/7.