First Homes

First Homes is a government scheme to help more people onto the property ladder.

A First Home is discounted by a minimum of 30% against the market value. After the discount has been applied, the first sale of the home must be at a price no higher than £250,000 to eligible households.

The discount will remain in perpetuity, so that future first-time buyer purchasers will also benefit from the discount. 

You can only submit a First Homes application to us if you are:

  • a developer that is selling a First Homes scheme property to a first-time buyer
  • an estate agent that is working with both a current First Homes property owner and a new first-time buyer

You will need to download and complete a copy of our First Homes Application Pack [docx] 293KB and send it together with the required evidence to first.homes@arun.gov.uk

You will also need to provide:

  • proof of address
  • last 3 month's payslips
  • last P60 (or signed off self-employed accounts)
  • last 3 months' bank statements
  • a mortgage lender decision in principle (DiP)
  • confirmation of the eligibility criteria you meet and proof of this
  • any other evidence as required in the application form

We cannot consider an application if the First Homes property has not been pre-reserved, or if any other information that is necessary to prove your eligibility for the scheme is missing.

Local eligibility criteria

Only one applicant needs to meet at least one of the local connection criteria:

  • The applicant or their partner are currently living in the Arun district and have lived in the Arun district permanently for at least 3 years immediately prior to the application date, or are currently living in the Arun district and have lived permanently in the Arun District for 5 years out of the last 10 years
  • The applicant or their partner has worked on a full or part-time basis (16 hours per week) in the Arun District for the past 2 years and remains in employment in the Arun district
  • The applicant or their partner needs to be in the Arun district to give or receive regular daily support from or for a close relative (parents, adult children, brother and/or sister). This support must be required on an ongoing long-term basis and cannot be provided by other family members or available support agencies. The family member must be permanently resident in Arun District and have lived here permanently for at least 10 years immediately prior to the application date.

Please note that we are not currently considering applications from key workers or members of the armed forces as a local eligibility criterion if none of the above criteria apply.   

National eligibility criteria

  • all First Homes applicants must be first-time buyers
  • combined household income of all First Homes applicants must not have exceeded £80,000 per annum

Application process for initial sale

Application process for initial sale
- Pre-sale set-up Marketing and customer reservation Authority to Proceed and Authority to Exchange Exchange and completion
Customer - Enquires and chooses to buy specific First Home
Selects conveyancer
Completes application pack, including supporting evidence
Pays reservation		 Submits mortgage application
Completes legal declarations with conveyancer		 Pays deposit
Moves in
Local authority Sets local eligibility criteria
s. 106 agreements		 - Receives completed application pack, checks criteria are met and issues Authority to Proceed and conveyancer pack
Receives conveyancer's legal undertaking that the transaction is compliant and issues Authority to Exchange		 Receives confirmation of completion and updates record
Developer Homes identified
Pre-sale valuations
s. 106 agreements		 Markets for 3 months according to any local eligibility criteria. If no sale, markets for 3 months according to national criteria
Assists in completion of application pack and submits to local authority		 - -
Mortgage advisor - Assurance that customer can borrow (potentially with DIP)
Assists in the completion of application pack		 - -
Mortgage lender - - Mortgage application
Lender values for mortgage offer and conveyancer confirms transaction at MV less the discount		 Provides mortgage funds for legal completion
Conveyancer - Conveyancer identified by customer Follows standard conveyancer instruction pack
Submits full legal declarations and undertaking to the local authority		 Exchange of contracts
Registers restriction at HMLR
Informs local authority