Before you look: know your numbers
Work out what you can afford before you fall for a home. Saying no is easier on day one.
Your ceiling
A lender looks at your income and your regular outgoings, such as bills, insurance and council tax, and checks you could still pay if rates rose. Many lend up to about four and a half times income. Add your deposit, take off the costs below and you have your ceiling: the most you could pay. Write it down and keep it to yourself.
Your deposit
You’ll normally need at least 5% of the price. A bigger deposit usually gets a lower interest rate, because the lender sees less risk. If family is helping, tell your broker early: some lenders don’t accept gifted deposits. Your conveyancer will want a letter confirming the gift, and will check where the money came from.
The costs beyond the deposit
- Stamp duty, if the price is over £300,000 (see section 03).
- Your conveyancer’s fees, plus searches and the Land Registry fee.
- A survey, and mortgage fees.
- Removals, then the running costs: council tax, energy, water and broadband. For a flat, add the service charge and any ground rent.
The cash you need before the keys.
Your quotesAdd each one as you get it. Conveyancing includes searches and the Land Registry fee.
A first-time buyer pays 5% on the part above £300,000. Add your quotes to finish the total.
An agreement in principle
Also called a mortgage in principle, it’s a lender’s statement of roughly what it might lend, usually valid for 60 to 90 days. It isn’t a mortgage offer or a guarantee, but agents often ask for one before you offer. Getting one can leave a soft or a hard search on your credit file, so ask which first. A mortgage broker can compare lenders for you: ask how they’re paid.
Found a home already? You can see where its asking sits before you offer. See it against the sales
Viewing and choosing: the home and the address
See any home you’re serious about at least twice, once at a different time of day. Take notes, and photos if the seller agrees.
What to look at
- Damp: a musty smell, stains, mould or one freshly painted patch.
- Cracks in walls and ceilings, especially around doors and windows.
- The roof, gutters and windows, from outside.
- The boiler and the fuse box: how old, and when last serviced or checked.
- Water pressure, light and phone signal in each room.
What to ask
How long it’s been on the market, and whether the price has changed. Why the seller is moving, and whether they’ve found somewhere: a seller still looking can hold things up. What’s included, such as curtains and appliances. And if the advert doesn’t say: the council tax band, whether it’s freehold or leasehold and, for a flat, the years left on the lease.
Check the address
- The energy certificate. The seller must have a valid one, and you can find it on GOV.UK by postcode. It gives the energy rating and the floor area: compare that with the advert.
- The council tax band, also on GOV.UK.
- Flood risk, on the Environment Agency’s free service. Flooding and noise explains the maps and what to ask.
- Broadband and mobile signal, on Ofcom’s checker.
- Planning applications for the home and its neighbours, on the council’s website.
Making an offer: start from the sales
The first price you see sticks. Psychologists call this anchoring. In a well-known 1987 study, estate agents toured a house with the same information pack, except for the listing price. Their estimates of the selling price moved with the listing price they’d been given, and they said it hadn’t influenced them.
The seller sets the asking price. What comparable homes nearby actually sold for is firmer evidence. For choosing your first number, see How much should you offer on a house?
From a published SettleIQ redacted folio: a ground-floor flat in Walthamstow was asking £450,000, below what flats like it nearby had sold for. The plan opened at £440,000, with the advice “Move quickly, and don’t go past your walk-away.”
What you bring
As a first-time buyer you have nothing to sell, so there’s one less sale that can fall through. Lead with that: no chain, an agreement in principle, a conveyancer ready. It can do some of the work a higher number would. If the seller wants more, terms can come before money, such as a moving date that suits them.
Putting it to the agent
Phone, then confirm in an email. The agent must pass your offer to the seller promptly and in writing, unless the seller has said in writing that they don’t want offers of that kind. Don’t tell the agent your ceiling. In England no offer is binding until contracts are exchanged, so you don’t have to answer a deadline on the spot. If you’re asked for best and final, see how to choose that number.
Stamp duty for first-time buyers in England
As GOV.UK set it out when we checked on 10 November 2026:
| Price you pay | Stamp duty as a first-time buyer |
|---|---|
| Up to £300,000 | Nothing |
| £300,001 to £500,000 | 5% on the part above £300,000 |
| Over £500,000 | No relief: the standard rates on the whole price |
The relief only applies if you, and everyone buying with you, have never owned a home, in the UK or abroad, and you’ll live in it as your main home.
Stamp duty as a first-time buyer, against the standard rates.
A first-time buyer pays 5% on the part above £300,000.
Watch the £500,000 line. At £500,000 a first-time buyer pays £10,000. A pound more and the relief goes, and the standard rates come to £15,000.
Offer accepted: the work before exchange
“Sale agreed” doesn’t bind anyone yet. Now the legal work, the survey and the mortgage run side by side.
Your conveyancer and the searches
Instruct your conveyancer straight away. They check the seller’s title and paperwork, raise questions with the seller’s side and order searches. If you’re buying with a mortgage, the lender needs them. The usual three:
- Local authority: the council’s records on the property.
- Water and drainage: whether it’s connected to mains water and sewers.
- Environmental: risks such as flooding and contaminated land.
Others depend on where the home is, such as a mining search.
The survey
A survey is for you. RICS, the surveyors’ professional body, sets three levels:
| Survey | What it is | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | A visual inspection, with no tests | A conventional house, flat or bungalow in reasonable condition |
| Level 2 | A more extensive visual inspection of the building, its services and grounds, still without tests | The same kinds of home, when you want more detail |
| Level 3 | A detailed inspection, with the likely causes of defects and the repairs needed | A large, older, run-down, unusual or altered home, or one where major works are planned |
The lender’s valuation
Your lender sends its own valuer before it issues your mortgage offer. That valuation isn’t a survey: it tells the lender whether the home is good security for the loan. If it comes in below your price, see what to do when a mortgage is down-valued.
Buying a flat? Check the lease
Your conveyancer asks the landlord or managing agent for details of the building, often on a standard form, the LPE1: ground rent, insurance and service charges. Check the years left on the lease, any major works planned and whether your lender wants a minimum term. Leasehold vs freehold explains why these move the price.
Insurance from exchange
You become responsible for the home when you exchange, so have buildings insurance starting that day. For a flat, the landlord usually insures the building and you pay a share: your conveyancer can confirm the policy.
Exchange and completion: to the keys
Exchange
At exchange, your conveyancer arranges for you to pay your deposit, traditionally 10% of the price but often less, and the completion date is fixed in the contract. From this moment the sale is legally binding. Pull out now and you can lose your deposit and face legal action.
Fraudsters target house deposits. Only send money to the account your conveyancer gave you at the start. If the details “change” in an email, phone the firm on a number you already have. You can send £1 first and call to check it arrived.
Completion day
Completion is usually one to two weeks after exchange, though it can be the same day. With no chain, it often happens around 11am. On the day:
- Your conveyancer sends the money to the seller’s conveyancer.
- The seller’s conveyancer confirms it’s arrived, and tells the agent to release the keys.
- You collect the keys. The home is yours.
Afterwards, your conveyancer usually pays the stamp duty and sends the return to HMRC, which must be done within 14 days of completion, and registers you as the owner with HM Land Registry.
Questions
What are the steps to buying a house in England?
Five stages: sort your budget, deposit and agreement in principle; view and check homes; make an offer; instruct a conveyancer and book a survey while the lender carries out its valuation; then exchange contracts and complete. Nothing is binding until exchange.
How much deposit does a first-time buyer need?
Normally at least 5% of the price. A bigger deposit usually gets a lower interest rate. Your broker can confirm what lenders would accept in your case.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty?
In England, not on a price up to £300,000. From £300,001 to £500,000 you pay 5% on the part above £300,000. Over £500,000 the relief doesn’t apply. These are the rates GOV.UK showed on 9 November 2026.
Is the lender’s valuation the same as a survey?
No. The valuation is for the lender: it checks the home is good security for the loan. A survey is for you, and looks at the home’s condition. RICS sets three levels.