Your First Home: a 2.5% deposit scheme - but will it help first-time buyers in Clapham, Brixton and Streatham?

A 2.5% deposit. For first-time buyers in South London that sounds too good to be true. So what did the Budget actually confirm?

So what's happening?

The government has confirmed a new £4.7 billion equity loan scheme called Your First Home. It aims to help around 70,000 households in England onto the ladder. What GOV.UK has published so far:

• You put down a deposit of at least 2.5%, up to a maximum of 15%.
• The government lends you 20% of the price as an equity loan.
• The rest is a repayment mortgage from a participating lender.
• The equity loan is interest free for five years, then 1.5% in year six and 3% from year seven.
• Household income must be £140,000 or less in London (£110,000 elsewhere).
• Price caps are £650,000 in inner London and £500,000 in outer London.
• It's for first-time buyers, for your main home, and only for new-build homes from developers signed up to the scheme.

Pre-registration opens by the end of December 2026, full applications from February 2027 and the first loans from April 2027.

The cold hard facts

Bear in mind it's an equity loan, not free money. If you borrow 20%, you pay back 20% of what the home is worth when you repay. GOV.UK's own example: buy at £300,000, borrow £60,000, and if the home is later valued at £320,000 you repay £64,000.

On a £500,000 new-build flat, that works out as:

• Deposit (2.5%): £12,500
• Equity loan (20%): £100,000
• Mortgage: £387,500

You still need to pass the lender's affordability checks, of course.

But what does it mean for Clapham, Brixton and Streatham?

You see, here's the thing. Most of what first-time buyers buy round here is second-hand: period conversions off Abbeville Road, flats on Brixton Hill, mansion blocks in Streatham. None of that qualifies. This is a new-build scheme, full stop.

Where it could matter is new-build in Battersea and Nine Elms, plus the odd new block in Brixton or Streatham, if the developer signs up and the price sits under the cap. Lambeth and Wandsworth should count as inner London, but the full list of local caps isn't published yet, so I'd wait for that before getting excited.

Two more Budget changes worth knowing

• Since 29 October 2026, you can use a Lifetime ISA on a home above the £450,000 cap with a 20% withdrawal charge instead of 25%. That's a real help in SW4, where £450,000 doesn't go far.
• From April 2029, a new First Time Buyer ISA replaces the Lifetime ISA for new savers: up to £4,000 a year, a 25% bonus and no upper age limit.

My take

It's a genuine leg-up for buyers who'd happily take a new-build flat. But it does nothing for the period stock most people in Clapham and Brixton actually want, and an equity loan that grows with your home's value is a debt you'll need a plan to repay. Take independent advice first.

So there you have it. Would you buy a new-build to get on the ladder with just 2.5% down, or hold out for a period flat? Drop me a line at jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com or call 07837 093554.

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Sources: GOV.UK, Budget 2026 and "Your First Home" guidance (MHCLG), 28 October 2026.

Tenants told to 'flood' rent tribunals: a backdoor rent freeze that could backfire on Clapham and Battersea renters

Let me say it straight. Telling tenants to challenge every rent rise, fair or not, isn't tenant protection. It's gaming the system, and in Clapham and Battersea it's renters who'll end up paying for it.

What's actually happening?

Under the Renters' Rights Act, in force since May, landlords can raise the rent only once a year, and tenants can challenge the increase at the First-tier Tribunal for £47. While the case runs, the tenant keeps paying the old rent.

The Telegraph reported last week that renters' unions in Oxford, London and Manchester are urging tenants to challenge rises even when they can afford them. Oxford Renters Union says decisions are taking five to six months. The more people apply, it says, the longer everyone pays the lower rent.

The case campaigners love

In Manchester, a landlord asked to go from £1,650 to £1,700 a month. The tribunal looked at the market evidence and set £1,450 instead. That's £2,400 a year less, not £600 more. The housing minister shared it on X as an example of the system working.

And in a way, it was. If the evidence says the rent is too high, the tenant should win. Propertymark's research shows tribunals weigh floor areas and room sizes differently by region, and outstanding repairs count against the landlord. Tired flats at top-of-the-market rents deserve to be challenged.

Where I part company with the campaigners

A safeguard against silly rent hikes is one thing. Clogging it up on purpose to create a backdoor rent freeze is another. The NRLA calls it using "the frailty in the system", and that's exactly what it is.

Here's the local maths. In my experience, a typical two-bed in Clapham and Battersea rents for around £2,500 a month. Say a landlord proposes a modest £75 rise, 3%. If a tactical challenge drags on for six months, that's £450 they never get back, even if the rise was fair all along.

Some landlords will shrug. Others will sell. Supply around here is tight enough already, and every flat that leaves the rental market means more people chasing fewer homes. That's the real cost of flooding the tribunals, and it lands on the next renter, not the landlord.

There's another catch. A system jammed with tactical cases is slower for the tenant facing a genuinely unfair jump, the very person it was built for.

Who wins and who loses?

• Renters facing an above-market rise: challenge it. That's what the tribunal is for.
• Fair landlords with the place in good repair: little to fear, but expect delay.
• Landlords chasing top rents on tired flats: most exposed, and rightly so.

What I'd do now

1. Build an evidence file before you serve the notice: three or four genuinely comparable lets, same size, same condition, same area.
2. Fix any outstanding repairs first.
3. Talk to your tenant before the paperwork. A modest, explained rise is far less likely to be challenged.

The good news? The Tenancy Deposit Scheme found 50% of landlords kept rents unchanged over the past 12 months, up from 39%. Plenty already prefer keeping a good tenant to squeezing one.

Over to you

Fair play or an own goal? Landlord or renter, I'd genuinely like to hear your view. Drop me a line at jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com or call 07837 093554.

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Sources: The Telegraph, Property118, Landlord Law Newsround, Propertymark, Tenancy Deposit Scheme via Letting Agent Today and Property Reporter.

Landlord licensing is changing again. I'm not waiting to find out the hard way

Landlord licensing in South London has changed a lot in the last two years, and it's about to change again. So this week, rather than waiting for a letter from the council to land on a landlord's doormat, I got on the front foot.

What's changing?

A quick recap of where my patch stands:

• Lambeth extended selective licensing to Clapham, Brixton, Stockwell and Kennington in September 2025, so it now covers every ward except Vauxhall and Waterloo & South Bank. Its borough-wide additional HMO scheme, for shared houses, is due to end on 8 December 2026, and I couldn't find a replacement on the council's website.
• Wandsworth started selective licensing in Furzedown, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway and South Balham in July 2025, and added Northcote, East Putney and West Putney in April 2026. The council has confirmed to me that no further wards have been announced. Shared houses with up to four sharers now need an additional licence anywhere in the borough.
• Southwark covers 19 wards, including most of Peckham and East Dulwich. The council has confirmed its fees are £945 for a selective licence and £1,433 for an additional licence. The current scheme runs until 2027, and a replacement will start from the day it expires.
• Lewisham has had selective licensing across most of the borough since July 2024, and the council has told me its additional HMO scheme carries on for the foreseeable future.

Fees run from about £640 to over £1,500, and in Lambeth the penalties for getting it wrong include a fine of up to £40,000 and having to pay back up to 24 months' rent. That is not a letter anyone wants to open.

So what have I done?

Two things.

First, I've written to the licensing teams at Lambeth, Wandsworth, Southwark and Lewisham. I've asked each one what happens next: are schemes being renewed, are new wards coming in, are fees changing, and what happens to licences that run past the end of a scheme.

Second, I'm writing to every landlord I look after in Lambeth and Wandsworth. Each one will hear where their property stands under their council's scheme, and that I'm already chasing the council for answers on their behalf.

No landlord of mine should have to find out from a council enforcement officer that the rules changed.

Why bother?

Here's the thing. Most of this isn't strictly my job. A landlord holds their own licence. But a good agent spots what's coming before it becomes a problem, and these schemes are exactly the kind of thing a busy landlord with one or two flats can easily miss.

That's the difference between an agent who collects rent and one who actually looks after your investment.

What happens next?

Wandsworth, Lewisham and Southwark have already replied, and the details above reflect what they told me. Lambeth is still due. As soon as they reply, I'll update my landlords, and I'll share what I learn here too. If you're a landlord in Clapham, Brixton, Battersea, Peckham or Lewisham and you're not sure whether your let is licensed, or whether your licence is about to be caught out by a scheme ending, I'm happy to take a look. No strings attached.

So there you have it. The rules keep moving, and I'd rather be a step ahead than a step behind.

As always, are you a landlord who isn't sure where your property stands? I'd genuinely like to hear how it's playing out on your street. Drop me a line at jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com or call 07837 093554.

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Sources: Lambeth Council, Selective Licensing Scheme and additional licensing designation notice; Wandsworth Council, Check if you need a property licence; Southwark Council, Private rented property licensing pages; Lewisham Council, Selective licensing page; email replies from Wandsworth Council (Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth regulatory services), Lewisham Council and Southwark Council's licensing team, October 2026. All accessed 23 October 2026.

Most first-time buyers now pay more than they did in rent: is buying in Clapham, Brixton or Streatham still worth it?

For years the maths was simple. Saving the deposit was the hard part, but once you had the keys, your mortgage was usually cheaper than your rent. Not any more.

The cold hard facts

Hamptons, using Connells Group data, found that 56% of first-time buyers who bought in September took on a mortgage payment higher than the rent they left behind. That's the highest share in at least a decade, up from 33% in September 2022.

• The average first-time buyer's mortgage payment was £1,227 a month, £39 (8.6%) more than their old rent.
• Those paying more had borrowed at an average 91% loan-to-value, a 9% deposit. Those paying less had a 17% deposit.
• Buyers in their 40s paid 18.2% more than their old rent. Buyers in their 20s still paid 7.5% less.

Why? Mortgage rates. Since the conflict in the Middle East pushed up swap rates, the average five-year fix has passed 6% for the first time in three years, according to reports. Moneyfacts says the average mortgage deal now stays on sale for just 13 days before it's pulled or repriced.

These are national figures, of course. Here, the numbers are bigger.

So what does it mean for Clapham, Brixton and Streatham?

Hamptons puts the average new let in Greater London at £2,357 a month, up 1.5% on a year ago. Renters in a one-bed off Clapham High Street or a two-bed near Brixton tube will know that number well.

Closer to home, the latest UK House Price Index puts the average price paid by a first-time buyer in Lambeth, which covers most of Clapham, Brixton and Streatham, at £474,320 in August. On rent, my own view is that a typical one-bed round here goes for £1,800 to £2,200 a month.

Who wins and who loses locally?

• Buyers with a bigger deposit (often thanks to the Bank of Mum and Dad) are still likely to pay less than rent, and they're buying in a market with more stock and more room to negotiate.
• Buyers stretching on a 5% or 10% deposit will feel the monthly pinch, at least until rates come down.
• Sellers of one and two-bed flats need to remember who their buyer is. If the monthly maths doesn't work for them, the price has to.

What I'd do now

1. Run your own numbers: mortgage, service charge and ground rent on a flat, against what you pay in rent today.
2. Get a mortgage in principle early and be ready to move fast. Deals are disappearing in under a fortnight.
3. Look at the bigger picture. Every mortgage payment chips away at a debt. Rent doesn't.

My take

The headline sounds gloomy, but I'd read it differently. Paying £39 a month more for a home you own, with security and equity building, isn't a bad deal compared with renting in London, where rents keep rising. The real squeeze is on deposits, not on the principle of buying.

And with this week's Budget and the Bank of England's next meeting in November, rates could move either way. Waiting for the perfect moment rarely works.

So there you have it. Buying costs a bit more each month than it did, but it's still building something.

Are you renting in Clapham or Brixton and wondering whether to make the jump? I'd genuinely like to hear how it's playing out on your street. Drop me a line at jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com or call 07837 093554.

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Sources: Hamptons (Connells Group data), HM Land Registry / ONS UK House Price Index (August 2026), Moneyfacts via Introducer Today, The Guardian, Property Reporter, Estate Agent Today.

House prices and rents in Clapham, Brixton & Battersea 2026

"What's a flat worth round here?" and "what should I be paying in rent?" are the two questions everyone in South London asks, usually over a drink and usually with a number they read somewhere that's two years out of date.

So let's use the official figures. On 21 October 2026 the ONS and HM Land Registry published the latest house prices (for August 2026) and private rents (for September 2026), borough by borough. Here's what they say for my patch.

One thing first. These are borough averages, not street prices. Lambeth covers most of Clapham, Brixton, Stockwell and Streatham. Wandsworth covers Battersea, Balham, Tooting and Wandsworth itself. Southwark covers Peckham, East Dulwich and Camberwell. A garden flat off Abbeville Road and an ex-local authority flat in Brixton sit in the same Lambeth average, and they're very different animals.

What is the average house price in Clapham and Brixton (Lambeth)?

£540,198 in August 2026, according to the UK House Price Index. That's down 6.5% on a year earlier, a steeper fall than London's 2.2%.

By type, Lambeth flats averaged £441,815 (down 7.2%) and terraced houses £804,615. First-time buyers paid an average of £474,320.

What is the average house price in Battersea and Balham (Wandsworth)?

£694,210, down 5.3% on the year. Wandsworth flats averaged £532,028 (down 6.5%) and terraced houses £986,873. First-time buyers paid £585,383 on average, the highest of the three boroughs.

What is the average house price in Peckham and East Dulwich (Southwark)?

£569,160, down just 2.1% on the year, in line with London. Flats averaged £466,671 (down 2.9%) and terraced houses £835,115. First-time buyers paid £497,815.

For comparison, the London average was £554,430, with flats at £427,310 and terraced houses at £648,650.

How much is rent in Clapham, Brixton, Battersea and Peckham?

ONS figures for September 2026 put the average private rent at:

• Lambeth: £2,538 a month, up 3.4% on a year ago
• Wandsworth: £2,640 a month, up 4.1%
• Southwark: £2,516 a month, up 7.3%
• London: £2,338 a month, up 3.5%

By bedrooms:

• One bed: Lambeth £1,890, Wandsworth £1,943, Southwark £1,907
• Two bed: Lambeth £2,353, Wandsworth £2,469, Southwark £2,387
• Three bed: Lambeth £2,696, Wandsworth £2,818, Southwark £2,779

So what does it mean for Clapham, Brixton and surrounds?

Now ears must perk up, because two things jump out.

First, rents and prices are going in opposite directions. Lambeth prices fell 6.5% in a year while Lambeth rents rose 3.4%. Southwark rents rose 7.3%, more than double the London rate. Generation Rent is still paying more, while the people who own the bricks and mortar have seen values slip.

Second, flats are taking the hit. In all three boroughs flats fell further than the overall average. I wrote recently about almost four in 10 London flats selling at a loss. This is the same story in the official numbers.

Who wins and who loses?

• First-time buyers in Lambeth. The average first-time buyer price is down 6.7% in a year. If you've been saving for a flat in Brixton or Stockwell, that's real money off.
• Flat owners looking to sell. With average flat prices down, pricing it right from day one matters more than ever.
• Renters, especially in Peckham and East Dulwich. A 7.3% annual rise in Southwark is a big jump on top of already high rents, and sharers are feeling it too: room rents in inner London just hit £1,002.
• Landlords. Falling prices plus rising rents means better yields for new buyers. Back of an envelope: Lambeth's average flat rent of £2,196 a month is £26,352 a year, about 6.0% gross on the average flat price. In Wandsworth (£2,341 against £532,028) it's about 5.3%, and in Southwark (£2,214 against £466,671) about 5.7%. Before costs, of course, and an average of all rents, not just new lets.

How much is my flat worth in SW4?

The honest answer is that a borough average won't tell you. Floor, outside space, lease length, condition and distance to the tube all move the number, and they can move it a lot.

The quickest way to get a real figure is a proper valuation. I'll come round, look at it, and tell you straight what it would sell or let for, with the comparables.

My take

Here's the thing. The headlines will say "London prices falling" and leave it there. Look closer and it's a flat market, not a house market, and a borough-by-borough market, not a London one. Wandsworth terraced houses still average nearly £1 million. Lambeth flats are down more than 7%.

If you're buying, this is the best negotiating position for years. If you're selling a flat, get the price right and get the presentation right. If you're a landlord, the yield maths is finally starting to work again.

So there you have it. A falling flat market, rising rents, and a lot of difference from one borough to the next.

Quick FAQ

Is it cheaper to rent in Brixton or Clapham? Both are in Lambeth, so the ONS averages don't separate them. Lambeth's average is £2,538 a month.

Which is cheapest to buy: Lambeth, Wandsworth or Southwark? Lambeth, at £540,198 on average in August 2026, then Southwark at £569,160 and Wandsworth at £694,210.

Are South London house prices falling? Yes, on the latest figures. Lambeth is down 6.5%, Wandsworth 5.3% and Southwark 2.1% year on year.

Where do these figures come from? The UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry and ONS) and the ONS Price Index of Private Rents, both published on 21 October 2026.

As always, are you thinking of buying, selling or letting in Clapham, Brixton, Battersea or Peckham and want to know what your place is really worth? I'd genuinely like to hear how it's playing out on your street. Drop me a line at jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com or call 07837 093554.

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Sources: HM Land Registry / ONS UK House Price Index, August 2026 (published 21 October 2026); ONS Price Index of Private Rents, September 2026, and ONS Housing prices in Lambeth, Wandsworth and Southwark (published 21 October 2026). Gross yield figures are my own calculation from those averages.