Now that we are well into 2026, lowering interest rates and new buyer opportunities are reshaping the property landscape. To help make sense of what this means for prospective homeowners, we sat down with trusted financial advisor, Andy Mannion from RSC New Homes for a Q&A discussion on why 2026 could be a smart time to buy a new home.
With the budget out of the way at the back end of 2025, we have some clarity and certainty around the general economy and we have seen a very buoyant start to 2026 with some great enquiry levels. It’s never been a better time to consider buying a new home. Not only do you benefit from energy efficient homes, you’ll also have access to Green Mortgages where you will see discounted mortgage products and cashbacks as well as greater borrowing capacity purely because you are buying a new build house. Mortgage affordability significantly improved in 2025 and borrowers can now obtain on average between 50-80k more in lending than a year ago. Lenders are pro-actively supporting the first time buyer space and there are more mortgages available at 95% than we have seen over the past 5 years. Rates have reduced also significantly which means it’s often more cost effective to buy than rent now in majority of locations!
With the expectation of further rate reductions in 2026, lenders are already pricing these into the 2 and 5 year rates on offer to customers, therefore we are seeing rates at the lowest levels for 5 years, meaning it’s a great time to take advantage of a fixed rate product at a much more competitive monthly cost.
The great thing about buying a new build property is the availability of some exclusive mortgage products aimed at energy efficient homes. You can obtain lower rates, cashbacks and borrow more. Plus you’ll benefit from the lower energy and maintenance costs linked to buying a new build home.
Simply put it will cost you significantly less, no maintenance costs, better mortgage products, lower rates all in all means it’s a sound investment.
Lenders are now looking at maintenance and energy efficient in the criteria of mortgages. If you spend less on energy builds and maintenance, they will allow you to enhance your borrowing to reflect the lower running costs of the home, you can borrow more against a new build property than a re-sale property by utilising green mortgage products.
Rates will come down further – not the case, lenders have projections for the year and price their mortgage products based on what they know about the year ahead. A reduction in the base rate doesn’t necessarily mean a reduction in mortgage rates – the rates already have the years projections priced in. We would encourage people to speak to a broker such as ourselves to get information on how cost effective it is to buy now with rates at the lowest levels we have seen for a long time.
It's cheaper to rent – given current affordability levels and rates where they are today, its often a lot cheaper to buy than rent in many locations in the UK
Remember you only need a 5% deposit and with some great incentives on offer buying a new home can be a lot more affordable than you may think!
Act now. Rates are low, future interest rate reductions expected this year are already priced into products and with affordability at such a great level, you’ll be surprised how cost effective it can be to buy now. Speak to a new build mortgage broker and find out how great products are at the moment, you’ll be surprised!
