First time buyer

Buying a house is one of the most important purchases you will ever make. It can be a very daunting experience but our advisers can guide you through the mortgage maze and find you the best deal available for your circumstances.

In the current economic climate, you will probably need at least 10% deposit towards the mortgage before a lender will consider you. But don't despair if you don't have the 10% deposit to put down, there are alternative options for you to consider.

Our expert advisers can explain the different types of mortgages on offer and whether or not a repayment or interest-only mortgage is right for you, and will complete a budget planner. Because we have access to a wide range of mortgage lenders , you can have peace of mind that we will be able to compare the whole range of mortgage products available on the market so you don't need to shop around.

When you apply for a mortgage, lenders look at a number of things to work out how much you can borrow including your earnings, outgoings, the value of the property you want to buy, your deposit, as well as your credit history.

Our advisers will help you do the sums by completing a budget planner, so you will need to give us as much detail as you can about your finances.

However, we appreciate that securing a mortgage these days is harder than it used to be, especially for first time buyers. Many circumstances have made it more and more difficult to get onto the property ladder:

• Loans without a deposit, such as 100% mortgages, vanished during the credit crunch
• Lenders are offering smaller mortgages and rejecting a higher percentage of applicants
• Interest rates for first time buyer deals do not reflect the low base rate (currently 0.5%)
• Average property prices are still a lot higher than the borrowing power of the average salary
• Deposits are now required in excess of 10% - that's a lot of savings!

But don't despair, if your savings are limited or your income is not sufficient to obtain the level of mortgage that you require, there are other options open to you:

1. Buy with friends or family

Why not join forces with someone close to you. It would help relieve the financial burden and you should be able to afford a larger property or in a better location. We recommend you seek legal advice before entering into a formal agreement with someone.

2. Shared ownership

Housing associations operate shared ownership schemes, where the association owns part of the property and you take the mortgage on the rest of it. You pay a mortgage for part of the property, and you pay rent for the part that belongs to the housing association. Shared ownership makes home ownership more affordable. You might buy a 25%, 50% or 75% share in your home. The bigger share that you purchase, the less rent you will have to pay. When you can afford to do so, you can buy more shares until you own your own home outright, in a process known as 'staircasing'. The other share in a shared ownership property is usually owned by a 'housing association'. Priority is generally given to people on local authority or housing association waiting lists.

For more information, visit the DirectGov site

3. Government schemes

There are a number of schemes available to help people get onto the property ladder including low cost home ownership and cash incentive schemes. However, these are often available in limited areas and to certain professionals such as key workers like nurses, teachers and social tenants - however the government has launched a number of schemes aimed at first time buyers.

For more information, visit the DirectGov site

4. Guarantor mortgages

If your salary isn't large enough to cover the mortgage you need, someone close to you like your parents can act as a guarantor for your mortgage until such time as your earnings are sufficient to cover the mortgage.

A guarantor is someone who is willing to guarantee your mortgage payments. This could be a parent, a close relative or even long-standing friend. Your guarantor doesn't have to part with any money unless you fail to make your repayments. If this happens, they are liable to cover the repayments for you (a word of caution, your guarantor could be at a risk of losing their home if you and they are unable to pay the monthly repayments, so you should be confident that you can afford the payments before you proceed).  By combining your income with your guarantor's income, you can increase the size of mortgage available to you. So with a little boost from your guarantor, you should finally be able to get onto the property ladder.

If you would like any further information, contact your mortgage adviser today.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

There will be a £75 administration fee payable on application. There may also be a fee for mortgage advice, the charging of such a fee will depend on your circumstances, but we estimate that it will be 1% of the loan amount (ie: £1,000 on a £100,000 mortgage).