Getting your first mortgage is a big milestone, and for most people it’s also completely new territory.
Between deposits, credit checks, mortgage products and legal paperwork, there’s a lot to get your head around, which is why having the right guidance early on can make the process feel far more manageable.
The good news is that the majority of first time buyer mistakes aren’t disasters. They’re avoidable. But they do cost time, money and stress that is best avoided when they’re already navigating such a significant purchase.
That said, getting a first time buyer mortgage is rarely as simple as walking into your bank and asking, the process has more moving parts than most people expect.
A first time buyer mortgage application is treated slightly differently to a standard remortgage. The best help for first time buyers isn’t always a scheme or a product. Sometimes it’s simply knowing what mistakes to avoid, before you get going.
Here are six of the most common ones we see, and what to do instead.
1. Starting the Process Without Checking Your Credit File
Most first time buyers have a loose sense of their credit situation. They pay their bills, they haven’t missed anything obvious, they assume they’re probably fine.
The problem is that lenders look much further than that.
When assessing a first time buyer mortgage application, they consider your full credit history: whether you’re on the electoral roll, how much available credit you have, whether there are any missed payments, even small, old ones, and how many credit applications you’ve made recently.
That last point catches people out regularly. Each formal credit application leaves a hard search on your file. Apply to two or three lenders without guidance and you could lower your score, making the next application a little trickier.
What to do instead: Get your credit report from Experian, Equifax or TransUnion before you do anything else. Check for errors, they’re more common than you’d expect, make sure you’re on the electoral roll and avoid applying for any new credit in the months leading up to your application.
2. Underestimating the Full Cost of Buying
The deposit is the headline number. It’s what people save towards, talk about and plan around. But it’s not the only cost, and buyers who treat it as the only cost regularly find themselves short.
Here’s what often gets missed:
- Conveyancing fees: typically £1,000–£2,000+, depending on the property and solicitor
- Survey costs: the lender’s basic valuation doesn’t protect you; a homebuyer’s survey that does will cost extra
- Stamp duty: first time buyers benefit from relief, but this still applies on properties over £425,000 (thresholds subject to change, always worth checking the current figures)
- Moving costs, immediate repairs, furniture: easy to forget, pretty impossible to avoid!
Getting help from a professional can make the difference between a smooth purchase and a stressful shortfall.
What to do instead: Build a total cost estimate, not just a deposit target. An adviser can help you factor in product fees so you’re comparing deals on a like-for-like basis.
3. Getting a Mortgage in Principle Too Early or Not at All
There are two ways this goes wrong.
Some buyers get a mortgage in principle months before they’re genuinely ready to buy. The problem is that most agreements in principle are only valid for 60–90 days. By the time they find a property and make an offer, it’s expired, and they need to reapply, which means another credit search and potentially a different assessment if their circumstances have changed.
Others don’t bother at all. They want to move fast when the right property comes up, and they try to arrange one the same week as the offer. By then, estate agents already know they’re not ready. Sellers usually take buyers with a current mortgage in principle far more seriously, and in a competitive market, it’s super important to be prepared.
What to do instead: Get a mortgage in principle around four to six weeks before you start serious viewings, close enough to still be valid when you need it, far enough ahead that you’re not rushing.
Most lenders only run a soft credit check at this stage, so it won’t affect your credit score. Just be aware that the full mortgage application later will involve a hard search, so just a reminder to avoid unnecessary credit applications in the run-up to that.
4. Choosing a Mortgage on Rate Alone
A low headline rate is the most visible number on any mortgage comparison. It’s also one of the most misleading ways to choose a product.
Two deals with similar rates can have very different true costs depending on arrangement fees, early repayment charges and what happens when the fixed term ends. A slightly higher rate with no arrangement fee may work out cheaper overall than a lower rate with a £999 fee, particularly on a smaller loan.
There’s also suitability to think about. A two-year fix gives you flexibility to remortgage sooner; a five-year fix offers longer stability but at a premium and with higher exit costs if your circumstances change. Neither is universally right.
What to do instead: Compare total cost over the deal period, not just the monthly payment. A mortgage adviser will run this calculation for you and factor in your circumstances, not just what looks cheapest on a comparison site.
5. Treating Protection as an Afterthought
This one tends to catch people out a lot!
Buyers spend months focused on the mortgage, the deposit, the application, the offer, the exchange. Protection (life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection) feels like a separate conversation for a rainy day.
But that day tends not to come (despite the British weather). Once you’re in the property, settled into your monthly outgoings and busy with everything else, sorting cover gets pushed back further and further.
Protection is really about making sure your home and finances stay secure if life takes an unexpected turn.
If your income stopped tomorrow, through illness, injury or worse, the mortgage payments would continue. Arranging it at the point of purchase can make more financial sense and helps to remove the very real risk of it never getting sorted.
What to do instead: Have the protection conversation at the same time as the mortgage conversation. A good adviser will raise it naturally and help you understand what level of cover genuinely makes sense, without overcomplicating it or pushing unnecessary products.
6. Not Checking What Schemes and Accounts Are Available to You
This one is less about what first time buyers trip up on and more about what they simply aren’t aware of yet.
There is actually less of a shortage of help for first time buyers than people might think, from government schemes to specialist brokers, but you have to know where to look.
There are currently several government-backed schemes and savings vehicles that can make a meaningful difference, but only if you know about them before you’ve already committed your deposit elsewhere.
The Lifetime ISA
The Lifetime ISA is probably the most valuable and most overlooked. You can save up to £4,000 a year and receive a 25% government bonus on top, up to £1,000 a year, which goes directly towards your deposit. You need to have opened one before your 40th birthday, and the property must be worth no more than £450,000.
If you’re more than a year away from buying, this is worth looking at immediately.
You may also already have a Help to Buy ISA, but it’s worth noting that you can’t use the government bonus from both when buying your first property.
Shared Ownership
Shared Ownership allows you to buy a share of a property, typically between 10% and 75%, and pay rent on the remainder, with the option to buy more shares over time. For buyers in London and other high-cost areas where full ownership feels out of reach, this can be a practical route onto the ladder that many dismiss without properly exploring.
The First Homes scheme
The First Homes scheme offers eligible first time buyers a discount of at least 30% on new-build homes in England, which can significantly reduce both the purchase price and the deposit required.
None of these are right for everyone. But not knowing they exist, or assuming they don’t apply, means some buyers work harder than they need to, or wait longer than necessary.
What to do instead: Have a conversation about schemes early, before you’ve decided how you’re saving or what you’re buying. The right combination depends on your timeline, your income and the type of property you’re looking for.
A Final Thought
Most first time buyer mistakes don’t come from carelessness. They come from not knowing what to look for, which is exactly why getting proper advice early makes such a difference to the whole experience.
At AS Financial, we work with first time buyers across London and the wider UK, helping them navigate the process from initial planning through to completion. If you’re thinking about getting on the ladder, whether that’s this year or next, we’re always happy to have an initial conversation.
No pressure. No jargon. Just straightforward advice based on your situation.
