# Earlybird

> Earlybird is a UK marketplace for new build homes and apartments. It gathers new build homes from developers in one place, puts the incentives and the facts up front (price, bedrooms, tenure, offers such as stamp duty paid, deposit contributions and part exchange), adds free information about the area around each development, and lets buyers book viewings directly with developers. It is free for buyers, and free for developers to list.

Right now there are about 301 new build homes listed across 149 developments by 29 developers, in 7 regions of the UK. The site is at https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/.

## What Earlybird is for
Buying a new build is different from buying a second-hand home. The best offers are often on the last few plots of a development and sit in small print or on a sales office wall. Earlybird exists so that a buyer can see those offers, compare them across developments and understand the area, and so that independent developers can reach buyers directly without paying portal fees.

## Benefits for buyers
- Incentives up front: filter homes by stamp duty paid, deposit contributions, part exchange, legal fees paid, upgrades included and price reductions, and see which homes have them.
- Everything on one page: price, bedrooms, home type, handover, tenure and costs, the developer, a map and photos.
- Area information on development pages (Earlybird Intelligence, where available): the neighbourhood, recorded crime nearby, schools, shops, stations and parks within walking distance, and recent sold prices nearby, built from open data (postcodes.io, data.police.uk, OpenStreetMap and HM Land Registry).
- Plain-English buyer guides and calculators, with sources from official bodies: GOV.UK, the New Homes Quality Board, NHBC and the New Homes Ombudsman Service.
- Direct viewings: for homes listed by developers on Earlybird, buyers choose up to three times and the developer confirms or declines. No fee for buyers.
- Lists and sharing: save homes, keep them in lists, and share a list with a partner or family so everyone picks homes together.

## Benefits for developers
- Free to list. A developer creates an account, adds a development and each home with its price and availability, and is approved within 24–48 hours.
- Pay only for results: £150 for each viewing the developer confirms. No listing fee and no reservation fee. A viewing that is later cancelled comes off the bill.
- Founding rate: developers who sign up now pay £75 per confirmed viewing for their first 12 months.
- Developers choose how they appear: company profile with a logo, bio and office address, a site plan buyers can zoom and move around, incentives and key dates such as when a show home opens.
- A dashboard for development listings, viewing requests and invoices. Invoices for confirmed viewings are sent through Stripe.
- Unclaimed listings: many homes on Earlybird are compiled from public listings. A developer can claim its development free, and can also ask for a listing to be removed.

## How to use the site
1. Start at [New homes by region](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes) and pick a region, then an area, then a development, then a home. Or use [Search](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/search) to filter by place, type, bedrooms, price and incentives.
2. Read the home page: key details, incentives, tenure and costs, the map, and area information.
3. Save a home with Save listing. The same button lets a buyer put it in a list, and a list can be shared by invite link.
4. For homes listed by developers on Earlybird, choose Book a viewing and pick up to three times. Buyers need a free account.
5. Before reserving anything, read [How to vet a new build property](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/how-to-vet-a-new-build-property) and [How buying a new build works](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/how-buying-a-new-build-works).

## Key pages
- [Home](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/): the start page, with search and links into each region
- [New homes by region](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes): every region, then areas, developments and individual homes
- [Homes](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/homes) and [Apartments](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/apartments): houses and flats across all regions
- [Developments](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/developments): developments listed directly by developers on Earlybird
- [Developers](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/developers): every developer with homes listed, and [top new build developers](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/top-new-build-developers) ranked by homes for sale
- [Resources](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources): buyer guides and calculators
- [Reports](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports): data on new build incentives, price cuts, asking prices, the new build premium by council and housing targets
- [List your developments](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/list-your-developments): how developers list and what it costs

## Page structure
The site is organised as a path from wide to specific:
- /new-homes/{region}: a region, with its areas and developments
- /new-homes/{region}/{area}: a town or neighbourhood
- /new-homes/{region}/{area}/{development}: a development, with its homes and area information
- /new-homes/{region}/{area}/{development}/{home}: a single home
- /developers/{developer}: a developer and everything it has for sale
- /developments/{id}: a development listed directly by a developer, with /developments/{id}/homes/{id} for each of its homes

## Regions
- [London](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/london): 46 homes in 42 areas
- [East Midlands](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/east-midlands): 72 homes in 32 areas
- [Greater Manchester](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/greater-manchester): 26 homes in 7 areas
- [North East](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/north-east): 50 homes in 13 areas
- [North West](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/north-west): 34 homes in 10 areas
- [Yorkshire and The Humber](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/yorkshire-and-the-humber): 49 homes in 7 areas
- [West Midlands](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/west-midlands): 24 homes in 3 areas

## Ready-made searches within a region
Each region has quick pages for common searches at /new-homes/{region}/{page}, for example [London stamp duty paid](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/new-homes/london/stamp-duty-paid). Pages only exist once a region has enough homes to fill them. The pages are: houses (Houses), apartments (Apartments), stamp-duty-paid (Stamp duty paid), part-exchange (Part exchange), price-reduced (Price reduced), bungalows (Bungalows), detached-houses (Detached houses), 2-bedroom (2 bedroom), 3-bedroom (3 bedroom), 4-bedroom (4 bedroom).

## Buyer guides
- [The new First Time Buyer ISA: what it means for buyers](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/first-time-buyer-isa): The First Time Buyer ISA replaces the Lifetime ISA from April 2029: £4,000 a year, a 25% bonus up to £20,000, no upper age limit and a £450,000 cap. What changes, who gains and what to do now.
- [How to search for a new build home](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/how-to-search-for-a-new-build-home): Where to start, which filters matter, and how to read a new build listing before you book a viewing.
- [How to vet a new build property and its developer](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/how-to-vet-a-new-build-property): A checklist for the developer, the warranty, the paperwork, the running costs and the inspection, using the official standards.
- [How buying a new build works, step by step](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/how-buying-a-new-build-works): From reservation to the keys: what happens at each stage, what you are protected by, and how long it usually takes.
- [Stamp duty paid by the developer](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/stamp-duty-paid): Some builders offer to cover all or part of your Stamp Duty Land Tax on selected plots.
- [First-time buyer schemes](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/first-time-buyer-schemes): The main schemes and reliefs that help first-time buyers in England, including the new Your First Home equity loan and First Time Buyer ISA, and how they work with new builds.
- [Deposit contributions](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/deposit-contributions): A deposit contribution is money the developer puts towards your purchase, and lenders treat it as part of the deal.
- [Part exchange](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/part-exchange): With part exchange, the developer buys your current home so you can move without a chain.
- [Reserving off-plan](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/reserving-off-plan): A reservation holds a plot while your solicitor and mortgage catch up. The agreement decides what you can still walk away from.
- [Shared ownership and First Homes](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/shared-ownership-and-first-homes): Two affordable routes on new builds in England: buying a share and paying rent, or buying the whole home at a lasting discount.
- [Snagging and handover](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/snagging-and-handover): How to check a new home before and after you move in, and who has to put defects right.
- [New build leasehold, service charges and estate charges explained](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/new-build-leasehold-and-estate-charges): What you pay each year on top of the mortgage on a new build, who sets it, and what to check before you reserve.
- [How new build prices are set, and where the money goes](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/guides/how-new-build-prices-are-set): Why a new build costs more than a second-hand home, what the price pays for, and why developers prefer incentives to price cuts.

## Calculators
- [Stamp duty calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/stamp-duty-calculator): Work out the Stamp Duty on a new build, and what it's worth if the developer pays it.
- [Mortgage repayment calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/mortgage-calculator): Estimate your monthly repayments from the price, your deposit, the rate and the term.
- [Mortgage overpayment calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/mortgage-overpayment-calculator): See how much time and interest you could save by overpaying your mortgage each month.
- [Remortgage savings calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/remortgage-savings-calculator): Compare your current mortgage against a new rate and see if switching is worth the fees.
- [Moving cost estimator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/moving-costs-estimator): Estimate the total cost of moving into a new build: stamp duty, legal fees, removals and the hidden costs.
- [Affordability calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/affordability-calculator): Work out how much you could borrow from your income and deposit, and which homes are within reach.
- [Deposit savings planner](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/deposit-savings-planner): Plan your deposit savings, with Lifetime ISA bonus projections, and see when you could be ready to buy.
- [Incentive value calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/incentive-value-calculator): Add up the offers on a home and see what they're really worth to you.
- [Shared ownership calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/shared-ownership-calculator): Work out the monthly cost of buying a share of a home and renting the rest, and the cost of buying more later.
- [First Homes calculator](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/first-homes-calculator): Check the discount and price cap on a First Homes new build, and how much you could save.
- [Floor area visualiser](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/floor-area-visualiser): See what a floor area in square metres or square feet actually looks like, and how it compares with the national space standard.
- [Garden size visualiser](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/resources/tools/garden-size-visualiser): Enter a garden's width and depth to see it drawn to scale, its area, and whether a shed, trampoline, patio set or car would fit.

## Market reports and data
Earlybird publishes data reports at https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports. Each leads with one figure, explains its method and sources, and offers the data as CSV. They may be quoted with a credit to Earlybird and a link. Headline figures right now:
- 15% of new build homes for sale on Earlybird advertise a buyer incentive (22 October 2026), and 24.6% have had their asking price reduced.
- A new build home in the UK sold for 32.1% more than a second-hand home on average, July 2025 to June 2026 (UK House Price Index).
- England added 208,600 homes in 2024-25, 56% of its 370,406 a year housing target; 39 of 291 councils met their own target.
- [New build incentives tracker](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports/new-build-incentives-tracker): How many new build homes come with stamp duty paid, a deposit contribution, part exchange or another offer, by region and developer.
- [New build price reductions](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports/new-build-price-reductions): The share of new build homes for sale that have had their asking price cut, by region, home type and size.
- [New build asking prices by region](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports/new-build-asking-prices): Typical asking prices for new build homes for sale, by region, number of bedrooms and type of home.
- [The new build premium by council](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports/new-build-premium-by-council): How much more a new build costs than a second-hand home in every local authority in the UK, from the UK House Price Index.
- [Housing targets vs homes built, by council](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports/housing-targets-by-council): How many homes each council in England added last year, against its government housing target.
- [UK new build market report 2026](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/reports/uk-new-build-market-report-2026): The state of the new build market in one page: prices, the premium over second-hand homes, supply, incentives and buyer satisfaction.

## Where the information comes from, and its limits
- Many listings are compiled from public new build listings and are shown as information about homes for sale. Details can change, so buyers should always confirm price, availability and terms with the developer before relying on them.
- Listings entered by developers on Earlybird are approved by Earlybird before they go live and are updated by the developer.
- Guides summarise official sources and are general information, not financial or legal advice. Each guide lists its sources.
- A developer or landowner can claim a listing or ask for its removal at /takedown. A listing is hidden while a removal request is reviewed.

## Company and contact
- Earlybird is run by DIRECTEDSTEPS LTD. Contact: team@earlybirdhomes.co.uk, or the [contact form](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/contact).

## Optional
- [About Earlybird](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/about)
- [Privacy](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/privacy), [Terms](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/terms) and [Cookies](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/cookies)
- [Brand](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/brand)
- [Sitemap](https://earlybirdhomes.co.uk/sitemap.xml)