Help to Buy Equity Loan Remortgage

The Government launched Help to Buy equity loans to mortgage applicants back in 2013. The property market got prolonged to recover from the credit crunch. This was one of many schemes designed to give it a boost. The interest-free period of the equity loan was for 5 years. So many of these are now due for repayment to avoid interest accumulating.

If your 5-year period is ending soon or has already completed. You should consider speaking to a Mortgage Broker in Leicester like us. We may be able to reduce your monthly payments or re-organise your finances.

How does the scheme work?

The scheme works by the Government typically loaning the applicant up to 20% of the property’s value. There is no interest payable for 5 years. If the property increases in value. Then the amount you owe to the Government increases also, so in that instance. The zero % could be quite misleading to some people.

The buyer is only required to put down a 5% deposit, and that is what made the scheme so famous.

From our experience

We have seen of Help to Buy; many borrowers are unsure of what they signed up to when they bought the house. The reasons being the scheme was not explained adequately to them. Or they got a little carried away with the excitement of purchasing a home. Either way, it comes as a nasty shock when the letter arrives. Asking what action you intend to take to repay the loan.

In any case, it’s a loan, not a gift, and the Government owns a percentage share in the borrower’s home. The borrower has 25 years to repay the loan unless they sell the house beforehand. At the end of the interest-free period, the interest gets charged at 1.75%. In year 6 should the borrower not repay the loan at that time. The interest rate then goes up each year after that.

When the interest repayments kick in, some customers may struggle to keep up their payments. Most customers look to try and remortgage at some point.

Things to be aware of

Not all lenders will accept remortgaging applications from Help to Buy customers. There are restrictions on the maximum loan to value when raising the capital to repay an equity loan. Some Lenders can consider going up to 95% though. The significant advantage of repaying the equity loan in full is that any future increase in the value of the property will be 100% to the homeowner’s benefit and won’t be shared with the Government any longer.

If a Lender cannot get found who will lend you the full amount to repay the Government loan when you come to remortgage, then another option could be “staircase”. In any case, this is when you gradually pay off the loan in instalments over some time, thus reducing the percentage of your home the Government owns. You can only use the staircase in multiples of 10%.

Mortgage Advice in Leicester