Welcome to Letham Views

First Home Fund

The Scottish Government has launched its new national pilot scheme, helping first-time buyers with the deposit for a new home. Launched to provide a total of £150 million until March 2021, the new funding will help at least 6,000 people buy their first home, whatever its price. 

Here we explain how it works and what’s in it for you.

What is the First Home Fund? 

First Home Fund is a new Scottish Government shared equity scheme that aims to help aspiring first-time buyers onto the property ladder by providing up to £25,000 as an equity loan towards the purchase of a new home in Scotland.

What is a Shared Equity Scheme?

Shared equity means the purchasing cost is split between yourself and, in this case, the Scottish Government's First Home Fund. Scottish Government will secure their equity share on the home you are purchasing but you will own the property outright.

What type of home can I buy?

The scheme can fund the purchase of either existing properties or new build properties, including any Stewart Milne home from across Scotland. 
The maximum First Home Fund contribution towards a Stewart Milne home is £25,000.

Can anyone use the funding?

The fund can only assist ‘first time buyers’.   Confirmation of the buyer’s status must be provided by your solicitor.

What if I’m buying with someone else?

If you are making a joint application to the First Home Fund, only one of you needs to be a first time buyer.

What do you need?

Buyers must contribute a deposit of 5% of the purchase price (subject to lender requirements) and have agreed a mortgage of at least 25% of the property value.   You will also have to pay an administration fee of £550 on application after you have reserved your new home but this is refunded if your application is unsuccessful.

Can I use other ‘help to buy’ schemes?

First Home Fund cannot be used with another equity scheme such as Help to Buy (Scotland). You can however still use a Help to Buy ISA or Lifetime ISA.

When do I need to repay this?

When you sell the home although, if you choose, you can repay the loan in full at any time before then at current market value.  Meantime, however, there are no monthly repayments to be made on Scottish Government’s share of the loan.

How much do I pay back when I sell the house?

Again, you pay back the equivalent percentage. For example, if the Scottish Government committed 20% of the purchase value, you pay back 20% of the resale price at current market value.

Can I use the home purchased as a buy to let?

The home cannot be used as a let property; it must be your main residence.

Which lenders are offering mortgages for the First Home Fund?

•    Barclays
•    Glasgow Credit Union
•    Leeds Building Society
•    Lloyds Banking Group
•    Nationwide
•    Scottish Building Society
•    Scotwest Credit Union
•    TSB

The First Home Fund offers a greater flexibility to first time buyers, allowing them to benefit from lower interest rates available on lower ‘loan to value’ mortgages, without a limit on the property value. However, we would still recommend speaking to a New Homes’ Mortgage Specialist as every mortgage lender will have their own requirements.

For more information about the new scheme check out:
https://www.gov.scot/collections/first-home-fund

Part Exchange

The easy way to sell your home

Enquiry

Our step-by-step Part Exchange service means you can have an offer for your home in just 5 days. All you have to do is get in touch, provide us with details of your property and leave the rest to us. You can then concentrate on choosing your perfect Stewart Milne home.

Valuation

We'll arrange two independent valuations, provide you with a fair market price for your property and once you've accepted, we'll liaise with solicitors to complete the purchase alongside the purchase of your new Stewart Milne home. No fuss, no delay, no chain. With no time to lose, get in touch now or come to our special events and find out how easy moving home can really be.

• An offer for your home within 5 days
• Two independent valuations
   

Reservation

Reserving your home is the next step. Guaranteeing you’ll have the home you’ve set your heart on. You’ll now be assigned a consultant, who will remain a consistent point of contact throughout the process. They will keep you well informed as well as continually offering help and advice. And when you buy early you’ll be able to choose your kitchen, tiles and work surfaces (to name just a few) from our extensive range.

Help with your move

You’ve sold your old house and your move-in date is within sight. Even at this point we’re still there to offer help with any aspect that makes the move to your new home as smooth as possible - how about we arrange a removals service? We will also give you our invaluable and easy to use guide to your new home, in which you’ll find all the information you’ll ever need, as well as important contact details.

Help to Buy (Scotland)

Help to Buy allows you to purchase a brand new home in Scotland with just 5% deposit and an affordable mortgage, with assistance from the Scottish Government.

Help to Buy gives you the chance to buy a new home with the assistance of an equity stake. The value of the stake is a maximum of 15% of the full price of the property. The maximum full purchase price is set at £200,000. Help to Buy is open to all buyers including existing home owners and first time buyers.

Under Help to Buy, the government provides an equity stake as follows:

• The Scottish Government provides an equity stake of up to 15%
• You arrange a mortgage for up to 80%
• Meaning your deposit is just 5%

Download our guide for full details:

Download guide

To be eligible for Help to Buy, you should:

• Be a home buyer looking to buy a new build home
• Be able to demonstrate access to savings or funds to pay a deposit of 5% plus usual cost of moving home which includes legal fees and stamp duty
• Have a good credit history
• Take out a mortgage with a qualified lender (e.g. a bank or building society) 

Assured Sale

You can relax knowing that if your current property hasn’t sold before the completion date on your new home, we’ll buy it at an agreed price.

It takes away the worry of selling your home by providing a safety net, saving you time, worry and the costs of bridging loans.