Builder incentive calculator — how lenders treat your package
Based on verified new-build lending criteria (verified 2026-07-13), see how each of the 10 lenders we track treats deposit contributions, cashback, paid stamp duty and legal fees, and non-cash upgrades — and what it means for your maximum loan and minimum buyer deposit.
This is an information tool, not advice: it doesn't give a recommendation, a decision in principle, or a guarantee any lender will lend to you.
Worked example: £350,000 house, £25,000 builder deposit contribution
No cashback, stamp duty or legal fees paid — just a £25,000 cash gift toward the deposit, which is 7.1% of price.
4 of the 10 lenders we track decline this package outright — Nationwide, Santander, Skipton, Perenna — because it exceeds their hard cap on incentives as a share of price.
- Halifax: 95% LTV, up to £307,500 loan, £17,500 needed from you — Builder incentive reduces the maximum loan under Halifax's 95% mortgage-plus-incentive gate — effective maximum ~87% of price after the incentive gate
- NatWest: 95% LTV, up to £325,300 loan, £17,500 needed from you — A builder deposit contribution must supplement your own deposit, not replace it — a minimum of 5% of price must come from you
- Barclays: 90% LTV, up to £308,200 loan, £41,800 needed from you — Any incentive caps Barclays' new-build LTV at 90%
Change the inputs below to model your own numbers.
Same £15,000 deposit contribution, but with part-exchange
£300,000 house, buyer part-exchanges their current home AND takes a £15,000 builder deposit contribution.
Combining part-exchange with a cash incentive is a common trap: HSBC declines the case outright — part- exchange already counts as the full incentive allowance, so adding cash on top pushes it over. NatWest still lends at 95% LTV, up to £285,000.
Change the inputs below to model your own numbers.
Between £50,000 and £5,000,000.
FAQ
What counts as an "incentive" that lenders assess?
Anything the builder gives you that reduces what you actually pay or funds your deposit: a cash deposit contribution, cashback after completion, paid stamp duty or legal fees, part-exchange of your current home, and non-cash extras like a fitted kitchen or flooring upgrade. Lenders treat cash-equivalent incentives (the first four) far more strictly than non-cash upgrades.
Why do some lenders decline a package outright?
Most lenders cap total cash incentives at around 5% of price before they either reduce your maximum LTV or deduct the excess from the property's value for lending purposes — a handful (Nationwide, Skipton, Perenna, Santander in our dataset) decline the application entirely once incentives cross that line, rather than adjusting the numbers.
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