How much deposit do I need to buy a house?

Is a bigger deposit really better? Find out how your deposit impacts your mortgage and how you can save for it.

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

How much deposit do first-time buyers need?

A mortgage deposit is the amount of money that you put towards buying your home. 

The bigger your deposit amount, the less you'll have to borrow for your mortgage and the lower your mortgage repayments will be. This is known as your ‘Loan-to-Value’ ratio (LTV): the percentage of total property value that you pay for with your mortgage. 

If you do decide to put down a small deposit, such as 5% or 10%, you’ll take out what’s known as a high LTV mortgage (due to the high-interest rates you may pay as a result of putting down a low deposit).

Our data indicates that the median deposit value first-time buyers put down in January 2024 is £30,000 (the median is the middle in a sorted list of numbers. This allows us to remove outliers that skews data 'averages'. This makes it a more reliable figure).

Our median property value figure in January 2024 for first-time buyers is £260,000. This gives us an 8.67% average deposit value.

Remember, the larger the deposit the better the range of mortgage deals you should be able to apply for, and the lower the risk of negative equity as a result. There you owe more than what the property is currently worth.

As long as interest rates are considered high, it could be wise to build as large a deposit as you can. This will give you the best chance of qualifying for a mortgage with a lower interest rate.

5% deposits for first-time buyers

Due to soaring demand for properties during the pandemic, the government saw fit to introduce the 95% mortgage scheme for all home buyers on properties up to £600,000. While this scheme ensures more people can get onto the property ladder for the first time, interest rates for 95% mortgages can be high. 

However, due to the cost of living and rising inflation, 95% mortgages have seen a gradual uptick in applications. As such, they represent a very real path onto the property ladder for many first-time buyers. 

View more information about 95% mortgages here.

10% deposits for first-time buyers

A 10% deposit (or a 90% mortgage) is arguably the ‘standard amount’ to save for a deposit. It gives you access to better rates than 95% mortgages, and often estate agents may look for a 10% deposit to push any offer forward due to less risk. 

For more information about 90% mortgages, visit our complete guide.

100% mortgages for first-time buyers

You can get a mortgage with no deposit but they're not common. This is a 100% LTV mortgage. You're more likely to get a no-deposit mortgage by getting a guarantor mortgage. For a guarantor mortgage, you’ll need to have a family member or friend who will guarantee the payments for you. The guarantor will need to own their own property. If you miss any mortgage payments your guarantor is responsible.

Some lenders, like Kent Reliance, offer 100% mortgages on the shared ownership scheme. Government schemes, such as Right to Buy, may mean you do not need to save a deposit. This is because you could use the discount offered by the scheme to cover the deposit.

There are drawbacks to choosing 100% mortgage:

  • lenders charge a higher rate

  • your monthly repayments are higher than they would be with a larger deposit

  • you’ll pay more in total than you would with a larger deposit because of the amount of interest you’ll have to pay

  • lenders will look for an almost perfect

  • risk of negative equity

If you do go for a 100% mortgage, remember that there can be a higher financial risk. You're more likely to fall into negative equity if house prices drop if you borrow 100% of the property value. Negative equity is when your property’s value is less than the amount you borrowed for it. You’d still have to pay back the amount you agreed on when you bought it.

How to save for a house deposit

Before you begin saving for a deposit, think about:

  • how much you can save each month

  • where you want to buy and how much a property costs there

  • how you’ll save

  • how big a deposit you want to save such as 5%, 10%, 15%

Think about what you get paid and spend each month.

What do you buy often? Where can you cut costs so you can save more money.

Look through your bank statements and list what you pay for. This can help you get a clearer idea of where your money goes.

Look at how you can cut costs in the short term, letting you save more for a deposit.

You can do this by:

  • cutting down how much you spend each day

  • reducing your bills. You can switch energy, broadband or mobile providers or cancel unused subscriptions

  • using apps to budget or save money

  • moving back in with parents or renting somewhere cheaper

Think about what money you have coming in and going out every month and then think about:

  • what kind of property you’re interested in buying

  • what it’s likely to cost

  • how big a deposit you want to save

The bigger the deposit the better.

You could go for the smaller 5% deposit. This would mean you need to save less but you’d pay more on your mortgage each month.

A bigger deposit will mean you pay less each month.

Use a mortgage calculator to see how much you could borrow for a mortgage.

Our calculator will look at:

  • how much you and the person you're getting a mortgage with earn a year

  • your deposit amount

  • what you spend on average a month

You could work out how much you could borrow after you've saved a deposit. But doing it before this will help you get an idea of how big a mortgage you can take out when you’re ready.

It also lets you to figure out if the estimate is enough to buy the kind of home you want. Or if you should keep saving to buy a more expensive property.

An affordability calculator can only give you an estimate of what you could borrow.

Lenders will need more information when they come to assess how much you could borrow.

Once you’ve decided how much you plan to save for a deposit, you should think about putting it in a savings account.

You can put savings into a:

Set up a direct debit or standing order to put some money into your ISA or savings account every payday. This will make it less likely that you'll spend the money you should be saving.

Sticking to budgets and plans is not easy.

It's worth it in the long run to get a healthy deposit to reach your goal of buying your own home.

How long it takes to save a deposit

The average property price in the UK in 2021 is around £251,000.²

It takes on average 10 years for a single first time buyer to save a 15% deposit.³

It’s 15 years for people buying in London.

In most cases you only need to have at least a 5% deposit but the average deposit people put down is 15%.

A 15% deposit of a £235,000 property is £35,250.

The time it takes to save for a deposit depends on:

  • how much you earn

  • any financial help from family

  • the total you want to save

  • how much you to save each week, month or year

How to get help with a house deposit

With house prices so high, it's not easy to save for a deposit.

It can be even harder if you're on a low income, buying alone or are a young first time buyer.

There are different ways to get help towards your house deposit.

As well as guarantor mortgages, family or friends can also help by gifting you your deposit or part of it.

You may also be able to borrow from your parents, and pay them back later.

Learn more about how parents can help with a mortgage deposit in our first time buyer guide.

There are many government schemes to help you buy a home.

Some of the most popular schemes are:

Learn more in our government schemes guide.

How to save for a property FAQs

Due to soaring demand for properties during the pandemic, the government saw fit to introduce the 95% mortgage scheme for all home buyers on properties up to £600,000. While this scheme ensures more people can get onto the property ladder for the first time, interest rates for 95% mortgages can be high. 

However, due to the cost of living and rising inflation, 95% mortgages have seen a gradual uptick in applications. As such, they represent a real path onto the property ladder for many first-time buyers. 

View more information about 95% mortgages here.

A 10% deposit (or a 90% mortgage) is arguably the ‘standard amount’ to save for a deposit. It gives you access to better rates than 95% mortgages, and often estate agents may look for a 10% deposit to push any offer forward due to less risk. 

For more information about 90% mortgages, visit our complete guide.

You can get a mortgage with no deposit, but they're not common. This is a 100% LTV mortgage. You're more likely to get a no-deposit mortgage by getting a guarantor mortgage. For a guarantor mortgage, you’ll need to have a family member or friend who will guarantee the payments for you. The guarantor will need to own their property. If you miss any mortgage payments, your guarantor is responsible.

Some lenders, like Kent Reliance, offer 100% mortgages on the shared ownership scheme. Government schemes like Right to Buy may mean you do not need to save a deposit. This is because you could use the discount the scheme offers to cover the deposit.

There are drawbacks to choosing 100% mortgage:

  • lenders charge a higher rate

  • your monthly repayments are higher than they would be with a larger deposit

  • you’ll pay more in total than you would with a larger deposit because of the amount of interest you’ll have to pay

  • lenders will look for an almost perfect

  • risk of negative equity

If you go for a 100% mortgage, remember there can be a higher financial risk. You're more likely to fall into negative equity if house prices drop if you borrow 100% of the property value. Negative equity is when your property’s value is less than the amount you borrowed for it. You’d still have to pay back the amount you agreed on when you bought it.

Some lenders might ask for a deposit if you want to buy your council property.

Others let you use the discount you get with Right to Buy for a deposit.

Find out how you can buy your council house in our Right to Buy guide.

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Important info & marketing claims

You may have to pay an early repayment charge to your existing lender if you remortgage. Your savings will depend on personal circumstances.

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

*The savings figure of £506 is based on Better.co.uk remortgage customers in December 2023. Read more on our marketing claims page.

We can't always guarantee we will be able to help you with your mortgage application depending on your credit history and circumstances.

Average mortgage decision and approval times are based on Better.co.uk's historic data for lenders we submit applications to.

Tracker rates are identified after comparing over 12,000 mortgage products from over 100 mortgage lenders.

As of January 2023, Better.co.uk has access to over 100 lenders. This number is subject to change.

For buy-to-let landlords, there's no guarantee that it will be possible to arrange continuous letting of a property, nor that rental income will be sufficient to meet the cost of the mortgage.