...and those first time buyers build equity by paying down their mortgage and having had a deposit in the first place. On a 500k property with a 450k mortgage you might expect to have 100k of equity after 5 years assuming no increases in prices. On a 700k second hiome after five years you would pay out of you 100k of equity ?25k of SDLT, ?5k for the estate agent (!!) and have 70k left over for your 10% deposit on the second home. In that scenario you don't need to find any ready money to move up a rung.