Cavanna Homes welcomes new government scheme to help first-time buyers

Cavanna Homes, headquartered in Torquay, has welcomed a new government home-buying scheme that could help more first-time buyers in Torbay and across the UK take their first steps onto the property ladder.

The Your First Home scheme was first introduced in September, but more details were announced in the Autumn Budget yesterday (October 28).

Chancellor John Healey announced that the scheme would receive £4.7 billion of funding and is designed to make buying a home easier for those who may be struggling to save.

The scheme will offer eligible first-time buyers access to a Government-backed equity loan worth 20 percent of the purchase price, interest-free for the first 5 years.

This will allow first-time buyers to purchase qualifying new build properties with a deposit of just 2.5%.

This means that for someone purchasing a £300,000 home, it could mean finding a £7,500 deposit, compared with £15,000 for the conventional 95 percent mortgage.

The government’s 20 percent equity loan would also contribute a further £60,000, significantly reducing the size of the mortgage required.

Cavanna Homes, a leading housebuilder headquartered in Torquay and operating across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, has expressed support for the scheme, highlighting how a lower deposit requirement could make homeownership more accessible and achievable for first-time buyers.

Hannah Newnes, Sales and Marketing Director at Cavanna Homes, said: "This is a really significant announcement for first-time buyers, particularly here in the South West, where getting onto the property ladder can feel increasingly difficult.”

"The biggest hurdle for many buyers isn't necessarily the monthly mortgage payment, but finding the money for a deposit in the first place.”

“Reducing that requirement to just 2.5 percent could make homeownership a reality for people who previously thought it was years away.”

"We know how much buying a first home means to people, and anything that helps make that milestone more achievable is incredibly welcome.

When looking towards the future, she added: "Of course, the success of the scheme will depend on how it works in practice, but this is a positive step towards giving more people the opportunity to own a home of their own."

In order to make use of the scheme, buyers need to be first-time buyers, buy a new-build home in England, within the relevant local price cap.

They will also need to use the property as their main home, be able to obtain a mortgage and have a total annual household income of £110,000 or less outside London, or £140,000 or less within London.

Applications are expected to open in April 2027, with the first sales likely taking place in April.