help to buy

If you’re looking to buy a place of your own but struggling to save for a deposit, the UK Government’s Help to Buy scheme could be extremely beneficial.

A Help to Buy: Equity Loan allows you to purchase a new-build home with only a 5% deposit, subject to eligibility, terms and conditions. The Government will then lend you up to 20% of the property value via an equity loan, so you only need to secure a 75% mortgage from a participating bank or building society. It’s important to understand that the 20% equity loan offered by the Government is based on a percentage value of your new home, rather than a fixed amount of money. This means that the amount you need to repay may rise and fall as the value of your home changes, and will also need to pay interest after 5 years.

Watch the video below for all of the details on the Help to Buy: Equity Loan and how it could help you purchase your dream Anwyl home.

To qualify for the Help to Buy Scheme, you must be:

• a first-time buyer in England
• a first time buyer or a secondary mover who is not renting your existing home and/or buying a second home through the scheme in Wales
• purchasing a new build home from a housebuilder registered on the scheme
• purchasing a home that’s valued within the regional price cap for the scheme

What Are The Help to Buy Regional Price Caps? 

In England, you can only use the Help to Buy Scheme if the home you want to buy falls within certain price caps. These differ from region to region, and are based on the average purchase price of a first-time buyer property. Those relevant to our developments include:

• West Midlands: £255,600
• North West: £224,400
• Wales: £250,000

How Does The Help to Buy Equity Loan Work? 

The equity loan provided by the UK or Welsh Government is interest free for the first five years. After the initial five-year period, you begin to pay monthly interest on the loan amount. This will rise each year in line with the Consumer Price Index.

Repayment options for your equity loan are fairly flexible. You can repay the loan at any time in full, in two chunks of 10% or upon the sale of your home – as long as you repay it before the end of your main mortgage term (England) or within the 25 year loan period (Wales).

How Does This Work In Real Life?

• Let’s say your dream Anwyl Home is on the market for £200,000.
• To purchase that home with Help to Buy, you’ll need a deposit of 5% – that’s £10,000. You can contribute more deposit if you’d like to, but let’s keep things simple at the moment.
• The UK Government will grant you a shared equity loan of up to 20% of the price of your home, subject to eligibility, terms and conditions. In this case, that’s £40,000.
• You need a mortgage of 75% to cover the remaining £150,000.

To find your Help to Buy agent, visit the Government’s Own Your Home website. For any more information, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Homes Advisors.

All information on this page is correct at the time of publishing.