Need a hand with Help to Buy Repayment?
We cover the full Help to Buy Redemption process, from local RICS valuers to specialist help to buy redemption solicitors.

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Help to Buy Repayment

04/04/2022
(Last Updated: 19/02/2024)
38,077
4 min read
The Help to Buy administrator has now changed; please liaise with Homes England for customer services on your Help to Buy loan.


Click to see the different processes to redeem your Help to Buy loan through a sale, remortgage paying in full or staircasing part of the loan:

Can I pay off my Help to Buy loan by remortgaging?

You can start the Help to Buy Redeem process without selling. This process covers if you don't sell the property but do settle the loan in full (normally through a remortgage, further loan, or personal savings).


    1

    Obtain a RICS valuation for the property.

    2

    Send the administrator your valuation and solicitor's details and pay your Administration Fee.

    3

    The Administrator confirms in writing if they approve the valuation and how much you must pay to redeem the loan.

    4

    The solicitor handles the rest of the legal work to redeem the equity loan, including ID checks, obtaining redemption statements and handling completion.


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Can I sell my house if I have Help to Buy?

You can sell the property over which the loan is secured. However, it is important to remember that you must repay the loan in full regardless of whether the property has gone up or down in value. The loan repayable is calculated as the loan percentage of either the current market value or the agreed sale price (whichever is higher).

To sell your property, you will need to:


    1

    Obtain a RICS valuation for the property.

    2

    Send the Administrator your valuation and solicitor's details and pay your Administration Fee.

    3

    The Help to Buy Administrator confirms in writing if they approve the valuation and how much you need to pay to redeem the loan. 4

    Your Help to Buy Redemption Solicitor handles the rest of the legal work to redeem the equity loan, including ID checks, obtaining redemption statements, providing undertaking to the Administrator, obtaining authority to proceed and handling completion.


Example of the value to repay the loan

Your loan at the outset was 20% of the purchase price of £250,000 then the loan value at that time was £50,000. When you sell you agree a sale price of £300,000 which means the value to repay the loan is 20% of £300,000 which is £60,000. Read more - How to Sell a Help to Buy Property.

Staircasing your Help to Buy Repayment

Help to Buy Staircasing allows you to partially redeem your Help to Buy equity loan while owning more equity in your home. Read more - How do I partially staircase a Help to Buy?.

    1

    Obtain a RICS valuation for the property.

    2

    Send the administrator your valuation and solicitor's details, confirm the % you are staircasing and pay your Administration Fee.

    3

    The Administrator confirms in writing if they approve the valuation and how much you need to pay to settle your share of the loan

    4

    Your Help to Buy solicitor handles the rest of the legal work to redeem the equity loan, including ID checks partially, obtaining redemption statements and handling completion.


Example of the value to repay the loan when staircasing

Your loan at the outset was 20% of the purchase price of £250,000, then the loan value at that time was £50,000. When you staircase, you agree on a property valuation of £300,000 and to staircase 10%, which means the value to repay the loan is 10% of £300,000, which is £30,000.

What are the requirements to staircase a Help to Buy loan?

  • The minimum amount you can staircase at one time is 10% (of the total market value of the property at the time you staircase);
  • The above requirement means that when the lenders’ equity in your property is less than 20%, you can only repay the loan in full;
  • You may only staircase in multiples of 10%, that is 10%, 20%, 30% etc; and
  • You cannot staircase if there are any arrears of interest payments and/or management fees on your mortgage account. Any arrears must be cleared, before a staircase transaction can proceed.


How can you contact Help to Buy?




How do you repay Help to Buy?

Help to Buy Repayment is the process undertaken by homeowners who originally used the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to buy their first property. The loan is often repaid at the end of the first fixed mortgage term and settled by:

  • Remortgaging
  • Personal savings, a further loan or a gift from family
  • Selling your property


This article explains the process of Help to Buy Redemption with all of the following providers Help to Buy, HomeBuy Direct, FirstBuy, First Time Buyers Initiative (FTBI), Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme (AFHOS), Help to Buy and London Wide Initiative (LWI).

Download your Help to Buy Repayment Form

What are the requirements for the RICS valuation surveyor?

  • The Valuer must be registered with the recognised qualification of RICS;
  • The Valuer must be independent to an estate agent;
  • The report must be on headed paper, signed by the RICS surveyor and addressed to the Administrator;
  • The Valuer MUST provide at least 3 comparable properties and sale prices;
  • The comparables provided must be like for like in terms of property type, size, and age and within a 2-mile radius to the property that is being inspected;
  • The Valuer must not be related or known to you;
  • The Valuer must inspect the interior of the property and provide a full valuation report;
  • Valuations carried out for bank or mortgage purposes are not acceptable, and
  • A copy of the valuation report must be supplied to the Administrator; the inspection date must be shown.


Help to Buy Solicitors Fees

Our experienced conveyancing solicitors can help you repay your Help to Buy loan. Our Fixed Fee quotes are truly fixed with no hidden extras, and we're rated Excellent on Trustpilot. Get a free, no-obligation online quote today.



Fixed Fee Quote for repayment of a Help to Buy Loan

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What happens after 5 years Help to Buy?

You do not pay any interest on your loan for the first 5 years after you buy a house using the Help to Buy Scheme. Once that period is up, you will be charged an interest fee of 1.75% of the loan you took. For example, if you borrow 20% of the purchase price of your house, the interest rate only applies to that 20%.

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Andrew Boast of Sam Conveyancing
Written by:
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.
Caragh Bailey, Digital Marketing
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Caragh is an excellent writer in her own right as well as an accomplished copy editor for both fiction and non-fiction books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey and mortgage related articles.

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