Shared equity and similar initiatives give '12 per cent' savings

It seems that the likes of shared equity and similar initiatives can offer an average saving of 12 per cent.

Halifax says that this is the difference between the price, on average, of homes acquired using shared equity or similar "low cost house purchase schemes" and the cost of a home generally on average.

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For more advice visit FirstRungNow.com.

Decorating Your New Home

Sometimes moving into a new home can be daunting, but let's not forget that it can also be a great opportunity to put your own little stamp on the world.

All you need is a a bit of time, some elbow grease and little inspiration. Here is First Rung Now's round-up of some of the best places for ideas to decorate you new home.

1. BBC Homes
This is a great little website for finding inspiration for different rooms of your house.

2. House to Home
As the name indicates, this is a great website for all those little tips that help turn a house into a home.

3. Etsy
Etsy is a fantastic website for finding handmade items to personalise your home or for buying supplies if you fancy giving it a go yourself.

4. Ready Made
Going one step further than Etsy, Ready Made is a great website for finding projects to help you decorate your home.

For more advice visit FirstRungNow.com.

Stamp duty affected first time buyer mortgages in April

The CML – or Council of Mortgage Lenders – has said that the stamp duty holiday's demise was behind a decline in lending to house buyers during April.

And apparently debut purchaser lending showed the greatest slump during the month, when held up against March.

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Welcome to the First Rung Now blog

Welcome to the First Rung Now blog, here we will be sharing news about buying your first house, tips for decorating and much much more!