buying

How much deposit do I need for a house? 5%, 10% and 15% by UK region and property type

A 5%, 10% and 15% deposit worked out from August 2026 UK House Price Index average prices, by region and by detached, semi, terraced and flat.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 6

How much deposit do I need for a house?

General information, not advice. We took the average price for each UK region from the UK House Price Index (UK HPI), published by HM Land Registry, for August 2026, and worked out 5%, 10% and 15% of it. Citizens Advice says the deposit is often 10% of the purchase price of the home but it can vary. These are averages across all buyers, not just first-time buyers, so they show scale rather than what you will be asked for.

Part 2 of 6

Deposit by region

Region	Average price	5% deposit	10% deposit	15% deposit
United Kingdom	£273,037	£13,652	£27,304	£40,956
England	£293,525	£14,676	£29,352	£44,029
London	£554,430	£27,722	£55,443	£83,164
South East	£379,953	£18,998	£37,995	£56,993
East of England	£337,848	£16,892	£33,785	£50,677
South West	£304,139	£15,207	£30,414	£45,621
West Midlands	£250,731	£12,537	£25,073	£37,610
East Midlands	£241,955	£12,098	£24,196	£36,293
North West	£220,393	£11,020	£22,039	£33,059
Yorkshire and The Humber	£209,266	£10,463	£20,927	£31,390
North East	£165,640	£8,282	£16,564	£24,846
Wales	£216,363	£10,818	£21,636	£32,454
Scotland	£198,397	£9,920	£19,840	£29,760

Northern Ireland is not shown. The UK HPI collection page says its index is published separately each quarter, so we did not mix it with the monthly figures.

Part 3 of 6

Deposit by property type (10%)

The same data gives an average price for detached houses, semi-detached houses, terraced houses and flats in each region. This table shows 10% of each.

Region	Detached	Semi-detached	Terraced	Flat
United Kingdom	£44,385	£27,868	£23,250	£19,415
England	£47,267	£29,196	£24,737	£21,856
London	£116,444	£73,058	£64,865	£42,731
South East	£68,271	£41,596	£32,451	£20,853
East of England	£52,144	£35,264	£28,924	£19,204
South West	£49,709	£32,557	£26,609	£17,347
West Midlands	£41,919	£25,480	£20,653	£13,851
East Midlands	£35,598	£23,110	£18,740	£12,422
North West	£38,812	£24,259	£17,823	£14,000
Yorkshire and The Humber	£34,682	£21,594	£17,054	£12,800
North East	£28,963	£17,333	£14,036	£10,365
Wales	£33,655	£21,581	£17,432	£13,021
Scotland	£36,598	£22,659	£18,440	£13,889

Reading across, a flat needs the smallest deposit in every region, and a detached house the largest. In London, the gap between a flat and a detached house at 10% is £73,713. In the North East it is £18,598. For 5% or 15%, halve or multiply the figure by 1.5.

Part 4 of 6

Regions compared

At 10%, London needs £55,443 against £16,564 in the North East, about 3.3 times as much. The same file shows how average prices changed over the 12 months to August 2026: London down 2.2%, the South East down 0.8%, the UK up 0.9%, Wales up 3.1% and the North East up 3.2%. A deposit target that is based on today's average can move with prices, so rework it when you are close to buying.

Part 5 of 6

What these numbers do not tell you

They are averages. The UK HPI average is across all sales. A first-time buyer usually buys at the lower end, so the deposit you need may be smaller than the table.
The minimum is set by the lender. Lenders decide how much they will lend against a valuation. Ask a lender or broker what they would accept for your income and the property you want.
A bigger deposit changes the borrowing share. Citizens Advice says that if you borrow more than a certain share of the property's valuation, usually 75 to 80%, a lender may require extra insurance, typically added to the loan. That is one reason a larger deposit can matter.
The deposit is not the only cost. Stamp duty, legal fees and a survey come on top. Our stamp duty calculator gives the tax for a given price.
The valuation may differ from the price. The lender lends against its own valuation, so a low valuation can leave a gap you must fill. Our guide to a mortgage down valuation explains what happens then.

Part 6 of 6

How we worked it out

Each figure is the average price for August 2026 from our copy of the UK HPI (HM Land Registry, Office for National Statistics, Registers of Scotland and Land and Property Services Northern Ireland), multiplied by 0.05, 0.10 or 0.15 and rounded to the nearest pound. The same file also shows how prices moved over the last year, which our price falls data story uses. Prices change monthly, so check the latest UK HPI release before planning around a figure.

Our take

Budget for more than the deposit

Our view: treat the regional table as a scale, not a target. A 10% deposit on the August 2026 UK average price is £27,304, but the lender sets the real minimum and most buyers do not buy at the average. The common mistake is saving for the deposit alone and forgetting stamp duty, legal fees and a survey.

What Your Property Check adds: our stamp duty calculator covers SDLT, LBTT and LTT, including first-time buyer and additional property rates, and OfferCheck gives a plain-English risk report on an address before you offer, with every figure sourced.

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Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

How much deposit do I need to buy a house?

Citizens Advice says it is often 10% of the purchase price but can vary. On the August 2026 UK average price of £273,037, 10% is £27,304 and 5% is £13,652. Your lender sets the actual minimum.

Which region needs the smallest deposit?

The North East. Its August 2026 average price is £165,640, so a 10% deposit is £16,564 and a 5% deposit is £8,282. London is highest at £55,443 for 10%.

How much for a flat compared with a terrace?

Across the UK, 10% of the average flat price is £19,415 and of the average terraced house £23,250. In London it is £42,731 for a flat against £64,865 for a terrace. These are averages for August 2026.

Does a bigger deposit lower the rate?

The Citizens Advice page we read does not link deposit size to the interest rate. It does say a lender may require extra insurance if you borrow above a share of the valuation, usually 75 to 80%. Ask lenders for their rates at each deposit size.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.