You need £17,000 for a first home - here's how to do it
Here are four ways you can put money aside to save enough for a deposit on your first home.
You need £17,000 for a first home - here's how to do it
If buying your own home is the finishing line, then saving up the money to get there is a marathon.
, announced on Saturday, aims to help first-time buyers in England get on the housing ladder with a small deposit.
At present, a 5% deposit on the current average UK house price of £272,000, plus moving costs and legal fees, will set you back about £16,850, according to financial information service Moneyfacts.
That is daunting, but experts say there are four ways you can at least begin saving for a deposit.
Putting an amount you can afford into a regular savers account the day after you are paid is a good place to start, says Anna Bowes, savings expert at financial advisers The Private Office.
"It becomes like another bill, but one that you can benefit from in the future," she says.
Which type of account is right depends on your circumstances.
Some of the highest-paying accounts are only available if you have a current account with the provider, she says.
Another factor is whether you can leave the money untouched for longer in order to get a better savings rate.
If you do not have a cushion of other savings, experts say an easy access account gives you the option of dipping into the money to cover an unexpected bill.
You can save up to £4,000 a year in a Lifetime Individual Savings Account (LISA), and the government adds a guaranteed 25% bonus. So if you pay in the full amount, the government will add £1,000 a year.
But there is a catch that has left some people out of pocket.
Money saved in a LISA can only be used to buy a first home worth up to £450,000 - a limit that has not changed since 2017.
The only other time you can take the money out is after age 60, or in the exceptional case that you are terminally ill with less than 12 months to live.
Withdrawing it for any other reason means you face a penalty - so you could end up with less than you paid in.
Ministers are planning to replace the LISA with a new First Time Buyer ISA, but there are no clear details yet on how it will work.
The earlier you start saving, the more you can build up thanks to the magic of compound interest. In short, interest is added to a larger and larger pot over time.
Bowes says that saving £50 a month from age 20 would leave you with about £41,000 in 30 years' time when you reach 50, assuming interest of 5% a year.
If you start 10 years later, you would need to save more than double - £101 a month - to have the same amount at age 50.
Investing in stocks and shares is another option, but the value of investments can go down as well as up.
An increasing number of lenders are offering mortgage deals with little or no deposit required.
David Hollingworth, from L&C, points to mortgages with deposits starting from £5,000 and allowing people to borrow up to 98% or 99% of the property purchase price.
They may not always be the best option, and not everyone will qualify.
And, of course, some first-time buyers turn to their parents for help.
Again, that is not available to everyone, but a survey by the Nationwide Building Society suggests that more than half of parents who charge their adult children rent are putting some or all of that money towards helping their child save to buy their own home.