Written by Darren Shepherd. Last reviewed and updated: 4 November 2026
The government published the Your First Home price caps on 3 November 2026. There are 296 of them, one for every local authority in England, with two for London. If a new-build costs more than the cap in its area, you can't buy it through the scheme.
Check the cap in your area
Use your postcode, or search for your council.
Your postcode is checked with the free postcodes.io service to find the council. Darren Talks doesn't see or keep it. Brand new homes often don't have a postcode yet. If so, ask the developer which council the site is in and search for it below.
This is the most a new-build can cost if you buy it through Your First Home in this area. At that price, the money would split like this:
A home below the cap needs less. You'll also need money for legal fees, a survey and moving costs, and the lender will still check you can afford the mortgage.
What the price cap actually means
The cap is a ceiling on the purchase price. It isn't a target, and it doesn't tell you what you can borrow. If the new-build you like is priced above the cap for that council area, you can't use Your First Home to buy it.
The government says each cap is based on the median house price in that local authority. The idea is to keep the scheme for modest homes, while allowing for the big differences in prices around the country.
One thing to watch: the cap that counts is the one for where the new home is, not where you live now. Brand new homes often don't have a postcode until they're nearly finished, so ask the developer which council the site is in. They'll know, because that council gave it planning permission. Then search for that council in the checker.
The highest and lowest caps
London has two caps. The 14 inner London areas (including Camden, Hackney, Lambeth, Southwark and Westminster) are capped at £650,000. The 19 outer London boroughs are capped at £500,000.
Outside London, the highest caps are:
- Broxbourne: £530,000
- St Albans: £515,000
- Cambridge and Guildford: £505,000 each
- Bracknell Forest: £500,000
The lowest is North Lincolnshire at £215,000. County Durham, Cumberland, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland are all close behind at £220,000.
How this compares with Help to Buy
Help to Buy, which closed in 2023, used one cap for each region. Your First Home goes down to council level, and that changes things a lot for some areas.
Mortgage Solutions worked through the list and found that more than 40% of the new caps are lower than the old regional cap. The South East is hit hardest: 49 of its 64 local authorities have a lower cap than under Help to Buy. Gosport, for example, is now capped at £225,000, compared with £437,600 for the whole South East under Help to Buy. Guildford goes the other way, up to £505,000.
The North East is the only region where no area has a lower cap than before.
The scheme in a nutshell
If you've missed the earlier details, here's what the government has confirmed so far:
- You need a deposit of at least 2.5% of the price.
- The government lends you 20% of the price as an equity loan.
- The rest comes from a repayment mortgage with a lender in the scheme.
- It's for first-time buyers buying a new-build in England, to live in as their main home.
- Household income must be £110,000 or less, or £140,000 or less in London.
- The loan is interest free for 5 years. Interest is 1.5% in year 6 and 3% from year 7.
- When you pay the loan back, you repay 20% of what the home is worth at the time, so the amount can go up or down.
For the full picture, including how it compares with a 95% mortgage, read my Your First Home scheme guide.
When you can use it
- By the end of December 2026: pre-registration opens. It doesn't commit you to anything.
- February 2027: the first applications.
- April 2027: the first homes bought through the scheme.
Before you get your heart set on a new-build
A 2.5% deposit gets you in the door sooner, but it also means you start with very little equity of your own. If prices dip, or you need to move in the first few years, that can make life harder.
It's also worth thinking about what would happen to the mortgage if you couldn't work for a while through illness or injury. Most first-time buyers never ask that question until they have to. I've written about it in could you pay your mortgage if you couldn't work?
All 296 price caps, A to Z
Here's the full government list. Type in the box to filter it.
| Local authority | Price cap |
|---|---|
| Adur | £420,000 |
| Amber Valley | £290,000 |
| Arun | £405,000 |
| Ashfield | £275,000 |
| Ashford | £435,000 |
| Babergh | £355,000 |
| Barking and Dagenham | £500,000 |
| Barnet | £500,000 |
| Barnsley | £245,000 |
| Basildon | £460,000 |
| Basingstoke and Deane | £425,000 |
| Bassetlaw | £245,000 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | £400,000 |
| Bedford | £410,000 |
| Bexley | £500,000 |
| Birmingham | £315,000 |
| Blaby | £335,000 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | £275,000 |
| Blackpool | £235,000 |
| Bolsover | £240,000 |
| Bolton | £300,000 |
| Boston | £235,000 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £315,000 |
| Bracknell Forest | £500,000 |
| Bradford | £265,000 |
| Braintree | £435,000 |
| Breckland | £310,000 |
| Brent | £500,000 |
| Brentwood | £385,000 |
| Brighton and Hove | £415,000 |
| Bristol, City of | £325,000 |
| Broadland | £345,000 |
| Bromley | £500,000 |
| Bromsgrove | £365,000 |
| Broxbourne | £530,000 |
| Broxtowe | £285,000 |
| Buckinghamshire | £430,000 |
| Burnley | £230,000 |
| Bury | £340,000 |
| Calderdale | £275,000 |
| Cambridge | £505,000 |
| Camden | £650,000 |
| Cannock Chase | £290,000 |
| Canterbury | £405,000 |
| Castle Point | £365,000 |
| Central Bedfordshire | £440,000 |
| Charnwood | £325,000 |
| Chelmsford | £410,000 |
| Cheltenham | £325,000 |
| Cherwell | £420,000 |
| Cheshire East | £310,000 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | £295,000 |
| Chesterfield | £255,000 |
| Chichester | £405,000 |
| Chorley | £300,000 |
| City of London | £650,000 |
| Colchester | £385,000 |
| Cornwall | £310,000 |
| Cotswold | £395,000 |
| County Durham | £220,000 |
| Coventry | £305,000 |
| Crawley | £330,000 |
| Croydon | £500,000 |
| Cumberland | £220,000 |
| Dacorum | £380,000 |
| Darlington | £240,000 |
| Dartford | £365,000 |
| Derby | £290,000 |
| Derbyshire Dales | £295,000 |
| Doncaster | £240,000 |
| Dorset | £355,000 |
| Dover | £350,000 |
| Dudley | £295,000 |
| Ealing | £500,000 |
| East Cambridgeshire | £370,000 |
| East Devon | £325,000 |
| East Hampshire | £425,000 |
| East Hertfordshire | £470,000 |
| East Lindsey | £230,000 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | £265,000 |
| East Staffordshire | £260,000 |
| East Suffolk | £315,000 |
| Eastbourne | £310,000 |
| Eastleigh | £425,000 |
| Elmbridge | £490,000 |
| Enfield | £500,000 |
| Epping Forest | £470,000 |
| Epsom and Ewell | £480,000 |
| Erewash | £245,000 |
| Exeter | £370,000 |
| Fareham | £415,000 |
| Fenland | £280,000 |
| Folkestone and Hythe | £340,000 |
| Forest of Dean | £300,000 |
| Fylde | £275,000 |
| Gateshead | £240,000 |
| Gedling | £295,000 |
| Gloucester | £325,000 |
| Gosport | £225,000 |
| Gravesham | £420,000 |
| Great Yarmouth | £280,000 |
| Greenwich | £650,000 |
| Guildford | £505,000 |
| Hackney | £650,000 |
| Halton | £305,000 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | £650,000 |
| Harborough | £325,000 |
| Haringey | £500,000 |
| Harlow | £370,000 |
| Harrow | £500,000 |
| Hart | £445,000 |
| Hartlepool | £220,000 |
| Hastings | £375,000 |
| Havant | £380,000 |
| Havering | £500,000 |
| Herefordshire, County of | £310,000 |
| Hertsmere | £460,000 |
| High Peak | £285,000 |
| Hillingdon | £500,000 |
| Hinckley and Bosworth | £305,000 |
| Horsham | £450,000 |
| Hounslow | £500,000 |
| Huntingdonshire | £410,000 |
| Hyndburn | £240,000 |
| Ipswich | £315,000 |
| Isle of Wight | £260,000 |
| Isles of Scilly | £310,000 |
| Islington | £650,000 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | £650,000 |
| King's Lynn and West Norfolk | £320,000 |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | £230,000 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £500,000 |
| Kirklees | £285,000 |
| Knowsley | £285,000 |
| Lambeth | £650,000 |
| Lancaster | £285,000 |
| Leeds | £305,000 |
| Leicester | £340,000 |
| Lewes | £405,000 |
| Lewisham | £650,000 |
| Lichfield | £310,000 |
| Lincoln | £270,000 |
| Liverpool | £235,000 |
| Luton | £365,000 |
| Maidstone | £415,000 |
| Maldon | £390,000 |
| Malvern Hills | £330,000 |
| Manchester | £355,000 |
| Mansfield | £270,000 |
| Medway | £420,000 |
| Melton | £300,000 |
| Merton | £500,000 |
| Mid Devon | £320,000 |
| Mid Suffolk | £350,000 |
| Mid Sussex | £460,000 |
| Middlesbrough | £220,000 |
| Milton Keynes | £440,000 |
| Mole Valley | £330,000 |
| New Forest | £330,000 |
| Newark and Sherwood | £275,000 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | £265,000 |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | £265,000 |
| Newham | £650,000 |
| North Devon | £320,000 |
| North East Derbyshire | £285,000 |
| North East Lincolnshire | £230,000 |
| North Hertfordshire | £465,000 |
| North Kesteven | £270,000 |
| North Lincolnshire | £215,000 |
| North Norfolk | £285,000 |
| North Northamptonshire | £325,000 |
| North Somerset | £350,000 |
| North Tyneside | £270,000 |
| North Warwickshire | £315,000 |
| North West Leicestershire | £320,000 |
| North Yorkshire | £290,000 |
| Northumberland | £225,000 |
| Norwich | £260,000 |
| Nottingham | £300,000 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth | £315,000 |
| Oadby and Wigston | £400,000 |
| Oldham | £300,000 |
| Oxford | £415,000 |
| Pendle | £250,000 |
| Peterborough | £315,000 |
| Plymouth | £265,000 |
| Portsmouth | £340,000 |
| Preston | £280,000 |
| Reading | £375,000 |
| Redbridge | £500,000 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | £220,000 |
| Redditch | £330,000 |
| Reigate and Banstead | £445,000 |
| Ribble Valley | £280,000 |
| Richmond upon Thames | £500,000 |
| Rochdale | £275,000 |
| Rochford | £435,000 |
| Rossendale | £270,000 |
| Rother | £390,000 |
| Rotherham | £285,000 |
| Rugby | £370,000 |
| Runnymede | £430,000 |
| Rushcliffe | £355,000 |
| Rushmoor | £365,000 |
| Rutland | £310,000 |
| Salford | £305,000 |
| Sandwell | £280,000 |
| Sefton | £290,000 |
| Sevenoaks | £465,000 |
| Sheffield | £260,000 |
| Shropshire | £305,000 |
| Slough | £395,000 |
| Solihull | £310,000 |
| Somerset | £315,000 |
| South Cambridgeshire | £455,000 |
| South Derbyshire | £295,000 |
| South Gloucestershire | £385,000 |
| South Hams | £345,000 |
| South Holland | £255,000 |
| South Kesteven | £290,000 |
| South Norfolk | £350,000 |
| South Oxfordshire | £450,000 |
| South Ribble | £265,000 |
| South Staffordshire | £300,000 |
| South Tyneside | £230,000 |
| Southampton | £245,000 |
| Southend-on-Sea | £320,000 |
| Southwark | £650,000 |
| Spelthorne | £375,000 |
| St Albans | £515,000 |
| St Helens | £270,000 |
| Stafford | £295,000 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands | £250,000 |
| Stevenage | £450,000 |
| Stockport | £305,000 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £235,000 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £245,000 |
| Stratford-on-Avon | £340,000 |
| Stroud | £355,000 |
| Sunderland | £235,000 |
| Surrey Heath | £385,000 |
| Sutton | £500,000 |
| Swale | £410,000 |
| Swindon | £375,000 |
| Tameside | £310,000 |
| Tamworth | £300,000 |
| Tandridge | £470,000 |
| Teignbridge | £340,000 |
| Telford and Wrekin | £285,000 |
| Tendring | £365,000 |
| Test Valley | £365,000 |
| Tewkesbury | £350,000 |
| Thanet | £350,000 |
| Three Rivers | £440,000 |
| Thurrock | £350,000 |
| Tonbridge and Malling | £435,000 |
| Torbay | £325,000 |
| Torridge | £290,000 |
| Tower Hamlets | £650,000 |
| Trafford | £285,000 |
| Tunbridge Wells | £445,000 |
| Uttlesford | £475,000 |
| Vale of White Horse | £415,000 |
| Wakefield | £260,000 |
| Walsall | £290,000 |
| Waltham Forest | £500,000 |
| Wandsworth | £650,000 |
| Warrington | £360,000 |
| Warwick | £390,000 |
| Watford | £420,000 |
| Waverley | £460,000 |
| Wealden | £400,000 |
| Welwyn Hatfield | £385,000 |
| West Berkshire | £430,000 |
| West Devon | £315,000 |
| West Lancashire | £275,000 |
| West Lindsey | £250,000 |
| West Northamptonshire | £355,000 |
| West Oxfordshire | £390,000 |
| West Suffolk | £380,000 |
| Westminster | £650,000 |
| Westmorland and Furness | £275,000 |
| Wigan | £270,000 |
| Wiltshire | £350,000 |
| Winchester | £420,000 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | £415,000 |
| Wirral | £255,000 |
| Woking | £345,000 |
| Wokingham | £485,000 |
| Wolverhampton | £290,000 |
| Worcester | £305,000 |
| Worthing | £300,000 |
| Wychavon | £295,000 |
| Wyre | £255,000 |
| Wyre Forest | £295,000 |
| York | £370,000 |
Sources
- GOV.UK: Your First Home local authority property price caps
- GOV.UK: Your First Home guidance
- Mortgage Solutions: Your First Home price caps revealed
- postcodes.io (postcode to council lookup)
This article is for general information and education only. It isn't financial or mortgage advice and doesn't take your personal circumstances into account. Scheme details are taken from GOV.UK guidance updated 3 November 2026, and the full rules will be published before applications open. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.