How long to save for a house deposit

Enter the price of the home, your deposit and what you save each month. The calculator adds the tax on the purchase and shows how long it takes to reach the total, year by year.

Time to save your deposit

4 years 2 months

You would reach £25,000 by November 2030

Your details

Home price

Where the home is England or Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Buying as First-time buyer Moving home

Deposit

%

Saved so far

Saving each month

Interest on savings

%

Leave at 0 if unsure

Calculate Reset

At a glance

• £Deposit£25,000
• TStamp Duty£0
• £Total to save£25,000
• %Interest earned£0

Savings by year

Year	Paid in	Interest	Balance
1	£9,800	£0	£9,800
2	£4,800	£0	£14,600
3	£4,800	£0	£19,400
4	£4,800	£0	£24,200
5	£800	£0	£25,000

How this was worked out

1. Deposit: £250,000 × 10% = £25,000
2. Stamp Duty: £0
3. Total to save: £25,000 + £0 = £25,000

The tax is worked out on the full price with the same calculator as our Stamp Duty, LBTT and LTT pages. Legal and survey fees are not included.

Was this right and useful?

Yes No

What the calculator assumes

• You buy one home at the price you enter, in the nation you choose.
• You save the same amount every month, with no breaks and no withdrawals.
• The interest rate on your savings stays the same for the whole time.
• The tax rules are the ones in force today. Governments can change them before you buy.
• House prices stay where they are. In practice the price of the home you want can rise or fall while you save.

How the target is built

The target has two parts. The first is the deposit, which is the share of the price you choose to pay from your own money. The rest of the price would normally come from a mortgage.

The second part is the tax on buying the home. In England and Northern Ireland this is Stamp Duty Land Tax. In Scotland it is Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), and in Wales it is Land Transaction Tax (LTT). The calculator works out the tax on the full price, for a first-time buyer or for someone moving home. It uses the same sums as our Stamp Duty calculator, LBTT calculator and LTT calculator.

The calculator adds the deposit and the tax together to give the total to save.

Interest on savings

If your savings earn interest, the calculator adds it once a month. Each month it takes the yearly rate, splits it across the twelve months of the year and applies it to the balance. Interest then earns interest of its own in later months, so the gain grows faster towards the end.

If you do not know your rate, leave it at zero. The result then shows only what you pay in. Tax on savings interest is not taken off, and many savers pay none.

What the calculator leaves out

Buying a home costs more than the deposit and the tax. The calculator does not include:

• legal fees for the conveyancing work;
• survey and valuation fees;
• removal costs;
• fees a lender charges to arrange a mortgage.

Lenders also set their own rules. Each lender decides the smallest deposit it accepts and how much it will lend against your income. A deposit that fits this calculator may not meet a given lender's rules.

Government schemes exist to help some people buy a home. The calculator does not model them. GOV.UK lists the current affordable home ownership schemes.

The methodology page explains the rounding behind the sums.

Report a mistake

We will receive the page address and the tax year. We will not receive the figures you entered.

What looks wrong?

Please do not include your name or contact details. To get a reply, email [email protected] instead.

Send report

Spotted a mistake?

Email [email protected]. Tell us what you entered and what you expected to see. Fixed errors are listed on the corrections page.