Skip to main content
Newcastle Building Society - Home
Accessibility Tools Contact Us Careers News

We're sorry, but our website is not compatible with the browser you are using.

To get the best experience we would strongly advise using a more recent and compatible browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge or iOS Safari.

Home Powering communities Home Happiness Index 2023

Home Happiness Index 2023

The Newcastle Building Society Home Happiness Index explores the hopes and concerns of first time buyers across the UK.

In 2022, we launched the Home Happiness Index to find out what would-be homeowners wanted from their new home as we exited the pandemic.

Now in its second year, the Index explores how things have changed since then and what impact the cost of living crisis is having on first time buyers’ dreams of home ownership.

Download Home Happiness Index 2023

Percentage of first time buyers who want a garden in their new home

51%

Percentage of first time buyers who want an area that feels safe

43%

Percentage of first time buyers who are worried about the cost of living

39%

We have a range of mortgage products to support first time buyers in getting onto the property ladder

First Homes

First Homes is a Government-backed scheme that allows first time buyers to buy a new build home, with a discount of at least 30%.

The discount remains on the property forever to help other first time buyers in the future. 

Ben and Rosanna were among the first people to buy a home through First Homes - take a look at their story.

For more information about the scheme, visit the First Homes website.

Family assisted mortgages

Joint Mortgage Sole Proprietor (JMSP) mortgages help increase a person's borrowing capacity when they are trying to buy a new home on their own. It combines the buyer's income with a family member's income, which allows them to borrow more.

The person who will live in the home will be the sole owner and their family member would be added to the mortgage to support.

For more information about JMSP, visit our family assisted mortgages page.

Shared Ownership

With Shared Ownership, buyers can purchase an initial share of a new home and pay rent on the rest.

This scheme helps people on joint incomes up to £80,000 (or £90,000 in London) to get onto or move up the property ladder.

Buyers only need a small deposit and over time can buy more shares of the home, which reduces the amount of rent they need to pay.

For more information about the scheme, visit the Shared Ownership website.

Get in touch with a First Time Buyer Coach

Appointments can be over the phone or via video call and at a time that suits you, whether you work shifts or 9-5.

Arrange an appointment

Already found your first home?

If you have already found your first home, you can arrange to speak to our Mortgage Advisers by calling us on the number below.

0345 601 5533

Calls to 03 numbers cost the same as a call to a standard '01' or '02' landline number, even when calling from a mobile. Contact your provider for more information.

YOUR MORTGAGE WILL BE SECURED ON YOUR HOME. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

Useful resources

Exterior of our Hexham branch.

First time buyers
First Time Buyer coach Hayley

Let's get moving
A couple laugh as they unpack boxes in their new home

Affordability calculator

The research for Newcastle Building Society was carried out online by Opinion Matters between 15/05/2023 to 23/05/2023 amongst a panel resulting in 1,003 respondents wanting/planning to buy their first property in the next 18 months. All research conducted adheres to the MRS Codes of Conduct (2010) in the UK and ICC/ESOMAR World Research Guidelines. Opinion Matters is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office and is fully compliant with the Data Protection Act (1998).