Aldo Sotgiu, managing director of Ward & Partners for north and east Kent, answers your property questions.

QUESTION

I’m a first time buyer who is unable to buy a property outright, what can I do to get onto the property ladder?

ANSWER

Currently the market favours buyers who have saved a big enough deposit to meet new lending criteria from lenders, (often 10-20 per cent of the purchase price). However, some buyers find it hard to save a deposit and have relied on larger mortgages and smaller deposits with some, historically, taking out 100 per cent mortgages. That time has changed. A bigger deposit means lower repayments and first time buyers have greater "instant equity" from day one. They are also better protected to weather any market downturn and avoid situations where they face the possibility of negative equity.

As many first-time buyers will tell you, having to save bigger deposits makes it harder to save enough to buy their first home. For those struggling to get larger deposits together or simply don’t earn enough to satisfy lenders’ criteria on earning multiples (the amount of money they can borrow based on their annual salary), there are some Government-backed schemes designed to help subject to eligibility.

Therefore to answer the question, even if you can’t afford to purchase your first home outright, there are a number of initiatives to make it easier and, subject to qualifying for those, will help getting onto the property ladder much easier and you should seek some professional advice to find out if you are eligible.

The incentives include:

Open Market Homebuy

This offers qualifying applicants (usually first time buyers on low income and Key Workers) access to Equity Loans to assist in the purchase of a property on the open market through an estate agent in the usual way.

New Build Home Buy (Shared Ownership)

This offers eligible applicants the opportunity to "Part buy, part rent" a newly-built property from a Housing Association. You can buy initially between a 25 per cent and 75 per cent share of the property, with a below market rent being paid to the Housing Association on their remaining share.

First time buyers Initiative

This option assists first time buyers by offering properties on designated first time buyers’ developments. These are offered with the assistance of an equity loan from the Government.

Key workers

The various HomeBuy programmes available to Key Workers are government led initiatives designed to assist eligible applicants, (particularly those who are employed in the health, education and law enforcement sectors), to buy a home. These are targeted at certain occupations where there are geographical recruitment and retention difficulties linked to the cost of housing. Often once eligibility has been accepted you will have access to the above FTB assisting schemes to give you access to affordable ownership.

To be considered for any of the above schemes first-time buyers must be registered with their local Homebuy agent. In Kent this is Moat Housing, whose website provides a wealth of information (www.moat.co.uk). Alternatively, pop into any of our 44 Ward & Partners offices and speak to our mortgage advisors. To find your nearest Ward & Partners branch call our Customer Service line on

0800 84 55 99 or visit

Ward and Partners

Aldo is ready to answer any of your property questions. So if you have an issue that needs clarifying on any home-related matter – HIPs to commission rates, buy-to-let to stamp duty – email it to home@thekmgroup.co.uk

Please remember to include your name and address