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Before You ApplyEducational mortgage-readiness preparation

Planning · 8 min read

Preparing to buy your first home in Scotland

In short

This page covers Scotland. Most mortgage preparation is the same wherever you buy in the UK: evidence your income, know your commitments, read your credit files, understand your deposit. Four things are genuinely Scottish, and they are what this page adds. You will need a solicitor earlier than you might expect. The seller provides a Home Report. Offers are made through your solicitor, often by a closing date. And the transaction tax is LBTT, with first-time buyer relief of up to £600. Everything else is covered by our national guides, which this page links to rather than repeating.

Who this is for

  • First-time buyers purchasing in Scotland
  • People who have read English home-buying guidance and need the Scottish position
  • Anyone planning the sequence of a first Scottish purchase

Key points

A solicitor comes earlier here

The Law Society of Scotland describes the process running from noting interest through to concluding the deal, with a solicitor acting for you throughout. mygov.scot confirms interest is noted through your solicitor.

The Home Report arrives before you offer

gov.scot describes Home Reports as introduced so buyers have better information before making an offer. Read it at that point, not later.

Closing dates compress the timetable

mygov.scot explains a seller may set a closing date where several parties note interest. Your preparation has to be finished before that, because you will not control the date.

LBTT replaces stamp duty, and the relief is capped

Revenue Scotland's first-time buyer relief raises the nil-rate threshold from £145,000 to £175,000, relieving up to £600. Budget for the tax as cash alongside your deposit.

The evidence side is the same as anywhere in the UK

MCOB 11.6 requires a lender to assess affordability and obtain evidence of the income it relies on, wherever you are buying. Our national evidence guides cover that in full.

The commitment point is different

Scotland has conclusion of missives, a date of entry and settlement — not exchange and completion. See our missives guide for why the terminology matters.

Exceptions and things that vary

  • Scotland only. GOV.UK's home-buying guidance covers England and Wales and states expressly that different rules apply in Scotland.
  • Not every property attracts a closing date, and not every purchase follows the same sequence.
  • Nothing here assesses your eligibility, and nothing here is legal, tax or mortgage advice.

How to work through it

  1. Start with the evidence, not the property

    Our suggestion: read your credit files with more than one agency, gather income evidence, and list your commitments in full. Our document checklist builder produces a printable starting list.

  2. Work out your cash position, including tax

    Our suggestion: use the Scottish cash calculator to set deposit, valuation, any gap above valuation and LBTT out together, so the total is not a surprise.

  3. Appoint a solicitor

    Our suggestion: do this before you find a property you want, because you will need them to note interest.

  4. Speak to a qualified adviser before you are under pressure

    Our suggestion: a suitably qualified FCA-authorised mortgage adviser can tell you where you actually stand. Book that conversation before a closing date exists, not after one is announced.

  5. Read each Home Report properly

    Our suggestion: note the valuation figure and its date, and write down queries for your solicitor and for a surveyor if the condition sections raise anything.

  6. Keep your preparation current

    Our suggestion: documents go out of date. If the search takes months, refresh rather than assume.

Illustrative example (not a real case)

Imagine someone who spends two months on evidence and cash planning, appoints a solicitor, and only then starts viewing. When a closing date is set on a property they like, nothing on their side needs to be started from scratch. That is the entire benefit this page is claiming — calm, not advantage. Illustrative only.

Illustrative only. Figures and situations in examples are made up to show a method. They are not typical, not a benchmark and not a prediction of any outcome.

What not to assume

  • Do not assume English guidance describes the Scottish process. GOV.UK says itself that it does not.
  • Do not assume you can wait to appoint a solicitor.
  • Do not assume first-time buyer relief is worth more than £600.
  • Do not assume you will have time to prepare once a closing date is set.
  • Do not assume this page or any of our tools assesses whether you can borrow. None of them does.

Questions for a qualified adviser

We cannot answer these for you, and we do not introduce or recommend advisers. Take them to a suitably qualified FCA-authorised mortgage adviser of your own choosing.

  • What evidence would you need from me, and covering what period?
  • How much cash should I be planning for beyond the deposit?
  • What needs to be in place before I could offer at a closing date?
  • Which valuation figure would be used for a mortgage on a property like this?

Check my readiness

Eight broad preparation questions. No figures, no personal details, no eligibility result.

Check my readiness

Related reading

A resource that may help you organise the next step

Optional educational preparation resources. Nothing here is mortgage advice, a lender or product recommendation, an eligibility assessment or a prediction of whether an application would be accepted.

Browse all resources

Sources

No statistic, regulator citation or third-party claim is published until its source is verified. Unverified entries are shown as placeholders.

Written by

Before You Apply editorial

Written by the publisher's editorial function, not by a named individual and not by a mortgage adviser. Before You Apply is not FCA authorised.

Reviewed by

Independent reviewer — to be appointed

No independent reviewer has been appointed yet. No review, qualification, FCA status or endorsement is claimed for this content.

  • Last fact-checked 2026-08-30
  • Not yet independently reviewed
  • Next review due 2027-02-28

Disclosure: this guide is educational. Before You Apply receives no payment for mentioning any lender, product or firm, and none are named.

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