First-time buyer mortgages

Buying your first home is mostly a paperwork problem with a deadline attached. The estate agent wants proof you can buy. The seller wants to know you will not fall through. The lender wants six documents it has not asked for yet. We sit in the middle and keep all three of them satisfied.

What we can usually do that the bank cannot

A high-street bank can only offer you its own mortgages. We search around ninety lenders, including building societies and specialists that only take cases through brokers. That matters most when something about you is slightly unusual: a new job still in probation, a bonus that makes up a third of your pay, a deposit gifted by a parent, or a credit file with a missed phone bill from four years ago.

How much can you borrow?

Most lenders start at four to four-and-a-half times household income, after taking regular commitments off. Some go to five and a half times for certain professions or higher earners. The affordability calculator gives you a fair range in a minute; on the call we tell you which end of it you are likely to be at, and why.

Schemes and deposits

Deposit help changes often, and what exists depends on where you are buying. We will tell you what is currently available for your purchase, including shared ownership, family-assisted mortgages and lenders who accept a gifted deposit, and what each one costs you in the long run.

What it costs

Our fee is £395, paid when you complete. If the purchase falls through at any point before that, you pay us nothing. We also receive a commission from the lender, and we will tell you the amount before you apply.