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First Time Buyer
A 95% mortgage lets you buy your first home with just a 5% deposit. We'll explain who qualifies, how rates compare and how to apply now that the government's mortgage guarantee scheme has ended.
A 95% mortgage is a home loan that covers 95% of a property's purchase price, meaning you only need to provide a 5% deposit rather than the traditional 10% or more. It's also known as a 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage.
For example, on a £200,000 property, a 95% mortgage means:
Since the government's mortgage guarantee scheme ended in June 2025, 95% mortgages are still available from a number of mainstream lenders, though the range of products is more limited than at lower loan-to-value tiers. Most lenders require a repayment mortgage on a primary residence, a minimum age of 18, and a maximum property value, typically between £600,000 and £750,000.
Speak to an advisor to find out which lenders currently offer 95% mortgages and whether you meet their criteria.
A 95% mortgage first time buyer deal lets you borrow up to 95% of a property's purchase price, putting down just 5% as a deposit. It's also called a 95% LTV (loan-to-value) mortgage, and it's often the entry point for buyers who haven't been able to save a larger deposit. Read our first time buyer mortgage guide for a broader overview of your options.
On a £200,000 property, a 95% mortgage works out as:
The lower your deposit, the higher the loan-to-value and, generally, the higher the interest rate a lender will charge, because the lender is taking on more risk. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.
Lenders assess 95% mortgage applications more strictly than lower LTV deals, since there's less of a safety margin if house prices fall. The criteria vary by lender, but most look at your deposit, income, age and the property itself. Work out how much deposit do I need as a first time buyer before you start viewing properties, so you know what's realistic.
There's no single credit score that guarantees acceptance for a 95% mortgage, but lenders generally want to see a clean, established credit history with no missed payments, defaults or county court judgments in recent years. Because 95% LTV lending carries more risk for the lender, thin or patchy credit files are scrutinised more closely than they would be at 75% or 80% LTV.
It's worth checking your Experian and Equifax reports before you apply, so you can address any errors or issues in advance. If your credit history is a concern, our guide to 95% mortgage with bad credit explains your options in more detail.
Thin credit files catch out a lot of first time buyers at 95% LTV, not just poor ones. If you've never had a credit card or phone contract in your own name, lenders may struggle to assess you even if you've never missed a payment. Building a short credit history before you apply can open up more lender options.
Eligibility
What can limit your options
Check your options
An advisor can review your deposit, income and credit history against a wide range of 95% LTV lenders.
Rates on 95% mortgages are higher than on lower loan-to-value deals, because lenders price in the extra risk of lending against a smaller deposit. As a general rule, the bigger your deposit, the more competitive the rate on offer. This holds true across most 95%, 90% and 75% LTV tiers, though the exact gap between them changes daily as lenders reprice.
Because rates move so frequently, we don't quote specific figures here. Any percentage published today could be out of date within days. For a first time buyer mortgage rates comparison based on your circumstances and current pricing, speak to an advisor directly.
Most advisors steer first time buyers towards a fixed rate at 95% LTV, since it gives you certainty over your monthly payments while you're already stretched on a smaller deposit. A tracker rate can move up as well as down, and at a high loan-to-value, an increase in payments could put more pressure on your budget than at a lower LTV.
The government's mortgage guarantee scheme, which encouraged lenders to offer 95% mortgages after the pandemic, ended in June 2025. That hasn't stopped 95% lending altogether. A number of mainstream lenders continue to offer 95% LTV mortgages independently, without needing a government guarantee behind them.
95% mortgages are typically offered by:
Not every 95% mortgage deal appears on comparison websites, and some lenders only offer their most competitive 95% LTV products through brokers. An advisor who compares a wide range of lenders can check which options are currently available, and you can confirm any advisor's authorisation on the Financial Conduct Authority register.
No. The mortgage guarantee scheme ended in June 2025, but 95% mortgages remain available without it. Lenders continue to offer them because there's ongoing demand from first time buyers, and they can manage the additional risk through pricing, stricter affordability checks and product criteria rather than a government guarantee.
The biggest risk with any high loan-to-value mortgage is negative equity, where your property is worth less than the amount you owe. For example, on a £200,000 property bought with a 95% mortgage, a fall in value of just 5% would leave the property worth £190,000, roughly the same as your outstanding mortgage balance, with little or no equity left if you needed to sell.
Negative equity doesn't stop you from staying in your home and continuing to pay your mortgage, but it can make it harder to remortgage or move until prices recover. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.
If you're ever worried about affordability or falling behind on payments, MoneyHelper offers free, impartial guidance at moneyhelper.org.uk or on 0800 138 7777.
There's no single right answer to whether it makes more sense to buy now at 95% LTV or wait until you've saved a 10% deposit. It depends on your local property market, how much you're currently paying in rent, and how quickly you can realistically save.
Some questions worth working through:
An advisor who compares a wide range of lenders can model both scenarios, buying now at 95% LTV or waiting for a larger deposit, based on your income, savings rate and the area you're looking to buy in.
If house prices in your target area are rising faster than you can save a bigger deposit, waiting can sometimes leave you worse off than buying now at 95% LTV, even with a higher rate. It's worth running the numbers for your specific area rather than assuming a bigger deposit is always the safer choice.
A Lifetime ISA (LISA) can be a useful way to build your 5% deposit faster. The government adds a bonus on top of what you save, up to £1,000 a year, which can be put towards a first home worth up to £450,000.
The LISA bonus can be used to fund some or all of your 5% deposit, alongside your own savings or a gift from family. If you opened a Help to Buy ISA before it closed to new applicants in 2019, you can still use an existing account towards a deposit until 2030, though you can't pay into both a Help to Buy ISA and a Lifetime ISA in the same tax year and claim both bonuses on the same purchase.
Key facts:
See our full guide to first time buyer mortgage schemes for more ways to boost your deposit or reduce your upfront costs.
Applying for a 95% mortgage follows the same broad process as any mortgage application, though lenders will look more closely at your credit history and affordability given the smaller deposit.
Step by step
Check your credit report
Request your free statutory reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, and fix any errors before you apply.
Work out your deposit and eligibility
Confirm your 5% deposit, and check the property's value, type and location against typical 95% LTV criteria.
Get a Decision in Principle
A soft-search Decision in Principle (Mortgage in Principle) gives you an estimate of what you could borrow, usually without affecting your credit score.
Speak to an advisor
An advisor comparing a wide range of lenders can search across the 95% LTV market on your behalf, including deals not listed on comparison sites.
Submit your full application
Provide supporting documents such as payslips, bank statements and ID so the lender can fully assess your application.
Await valuation and mortgage offer
The lender will value the property and, if everything checks out, issue a formal mortgage offer.
Instruct a solicitor and complete
Your solicitor or conveyancer handles the legal work through to exchange and completion.
Common questions
Yes. The government's mortgage guarantee scheme ended in June 2025, but a number of mainstream lenders continue to offer 95% mortgages independently. Product choice and criteria vary by lender, so speak to an advisor to find out which options are currently available.
You need a minimum deposit of 5% of the property's purchase price. On a £200,000 property, that's a £10,000 deposit, with the remaining £190,000 borrowed as the mortgage. Your deposit can come from savings, a gift from family, or a Lifetime ISA, including its government bonus.
There's no single credit score that guarantees acceptance for a 95% mortgage, but lenders generally want to see a clean, established credit history with no missed payments, defaults or county court judgments. Because 95% LTV lending carries more risk, thin or patchy credit files are scrutinised more closely than at lower loan-to-value tiers.
Yes. A Lifetime ISA lets you save towards your deposit while receiving a government bonus of up to £1,000 a year, which can go towards a first home worth up to £450,000. The bonus can fund some or all of your 5% deposit alongside your own savings.
If the property's value falls, you could end up in negative equity, where you owe more on the mortgage than the property is worth. For example, a 5% fall in value on a £200,000 property bought with a 95% mortgage would leave little or no equity. This doesn't stop you from staying in the property and continuing to pay your mortgage, but it can make it harder to remortgage or move until prices recover. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.
Not always. Many lenders exclude new-build flats from their 95% LTV range because they consider them higher risk, alongside non-standard construction properties. Availability varies by lender, so it's worth checking early if you're considering a new-build flat with a 5% deposit.
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