Your First Home Price Caps in Essex & Suffolk

What is the Your First Home scheme?

Your First Home is a government-backed equity loan scheme for first-time buyers buying a new-build home in England.

It works like this:

Deposit: at least 2.5% of the purchase price
Government equity loan: 20% of the purchase price
Mortgage: a repayment mortgage from a participating lender covers the rest

The equity loan is interest-free for the first five years. Interest is then charged at 1.5% in year six and 3% from year seven.

The loan is normally repaid when you sell the home, and the amount you repay is linked to the home's value at that time.

Who is eligible?

To use the scheme, you'll normally need to:

Be a first-time buyer
Buy a new-build home from a participating developer
Buy a home priced at or below the local price cap
Live in the home as your main residence
Have a household income of £110,000 or less (£140,000 in London)
Pass a participating lender's mortgage checks

Full eligibility rules will be published before applications open.

When does Your First Home start?

By the end of December 2026: Buyer pre-registration and the first developer registrations
February 2027: Applications expected to open
April 2027: First homes expected to be sold through the scheme

Your First Home price caps in Essex and Suffolk

To qualify, a new-build home must be priced at or below the cap for its local authority.

Here are the caps across the areas Oakheart covers:

Uttlesford: £475,000 (Great Dunmow, Felsted)
Braintree: £435,000 (Braintree, Witham, Halstead)
Chelmsford: £410,000 (Chelmsford)
Maldon: £390,000 (Maldon)
Colchester: £385,000 (Colchester, Mersea Island)
West Suffolk: £380,000 (Bury St Edmunds)
Tendring: £365,000 (Tendring district)
Babergh: £355,000 (Sudbury)
Mid Suffolk: £350,000 (Mid Suffolk)
Ipswich: £315,000 (Ipswich)
East Suffolk: £315,000 (East Suffolk)

That's a gap of £160,000 between the highest and lowest caps in our region.

Uttlesford, Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester

In these areas, the caps should comfortably cover most two and three-bedroom new-build homes, the type most first-time buyers are looking for.

Ipswich and East Suffolk

At £315,000, the caps here are tighter, so some larger family homes won't qualify.

Developers in these areas will need to think carefully about house types and pricing.

Why district boundaries matter

A site on one side of a district boundary can have a very different cap from a site on the other.

Felsted is a good example. It sits in Uttlesford, with a £475,000 cap, but borders Braintree district, where the cap is £435,000.

Two sites a couple of miles apart could have caps £40,000 apart, and a CM6 postcode won't tell you which side of the line you're on.

Always check the local authority, not just the town or postcode.

How much deposit do you need for a new build in Colchester?

Here's an example for a £350,000 new-build home in Colchester:

2.5% deposit: £8,750
20% government equity loan: £70,000
77.5% mortgage: £271,250

Compare that with the £35,000 needed for a 10% deposit.

For many first-time buyers renting in Essex and Suffolk, Your First Home could bring buying a home forward by years.

It's still important to get good mortgage advice early. Interest on the equity loan starts in year six, and what you repay depends on your home's future value.

What do housebuilders have to contribute?

Builders who want to sell homes through Your First Home must register, meet the scheme requirements and sign a participation agreement with the government.

Developers of all sizes can take part.

They then pay a fee on every home sold through the scheme, based on the final sale price:

First 100 homes sold through the scheme each year: 1% developer fee
Homes 101 to 250: 3% developer fee
Homes above 250: 4% developer fee

The count resets each year.

What this means for local builders

On a £350,000 home in Colchester, the fee would be £3,500.

A local builder selling 30 homes a year through the scheme would pay 1% on every one.

Large national housebuilders pay more. The government's example shows a builder selling 500 homes a year paying an average of 3.1%.

That makes the scheme especially good value for the small and medium-sized builders who deliver many of the new homes in Essex and Suffolk.

Still to be confirmed

Further details are due before applications open, including:

How and when the fee is paid
How the scheme works alongside incentives, part exchange and affordable housing
Reporting requirements

What does Your First Home mean for landowners?

Stronger first-time buyer demand makes sites that can deliver well-priced homes under the local cap more attractive.

That supports sales rates and viability.

If you're thinking about bringing land forward in Essex or Suffolk, the cap in your district is now a useful part of that conversation.

Your First Home: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Your First Home price cap in Colchester?

The price cap in Colchester, including Mersea Island, is £385,000.

What is the Your First Home price cap in Chelmsford?

The price cap in Chelmsford is £410,000.

What is the Your First Home price cap in Ipswich?

The price cap in Ipswich is £315,000.

Are Great Dunmow and Felsted covered by the Your First Home scheme?

Yes. Great Dunmow and Felsted are in Uttlesford, where the price cap is £475,000.

Can I use Your First Home on a resale home?

No. The scheme is only for new-build homes from participating developers.

How much deposit do I need for Your First Home?

You'll need a deposit of at least 2.5% of the purchase price.

Do I pay interest on the Your First Home equity loan?

The loan is interest-free for the first five years. Interest is 1.5% in year six and 3% from year seven.

How much do developers pay to join Your First Home?

Developers pay 1% on the first 100 homes they sell through the scheme each year, 3% on homes 101 to 250 and 4% on homes above 250.

Talk to Oakheart Land & New Homes

Whether you're a first-time buyer looking for a new-build home or a builder, developer or landowner planning a site in Essex or Suffolk, our Land & New Homes team can help.

Contact Oakheart Land & New Homes to talk through what the Your First Home price caps mean for you.

Sources: Your First Home: local authority property price caps, GOV.UK; Your First Home scheme guidance, GOV.UK; Your First Home: what you need to know now, Gateley; Uttlesford District Council town and parish councils.

This article reflects government guidance published in October and November 2026. Full scheme rules are still to be published, so details may change.

Your First Home Price Caps in Essex & Suffolk: What Buyers & Builders Need to Know