Help to Buy Mortgages

What is a Help to Buy mortgage?

A Help to Buy mortgage is a first-charge residential mortgage (the main mortgage, repaid first from any sale) alongside a government equity loan secured on the home as a second charge (repaid after it). The equity loan is a percentage of the property value, so its repayment amount can rise or fall as the value changes. England offered equity loans of up to 20% of the purchase price (up to 40% in London). England's scheme closed to new applications on 31 October 2022, but existing loans continue and can be switched to a new mortgage deal, remortgaged or repaid.

Help to Buy Wales still accepts eligible new-build applications, which must be submitted by 31 March 2027. The Help to Buy (Scotland) schemes are closed. Scotland's current schemes, LIFT and the First Homes Fund, are covered on our first-time buyer mortgages in Scotland page. Forces Help to Buy is a separate Ministry of Defence advance; the 2025 Mortgage Guarantee Scheme supports eligible mortgages above 90% and up to 95% loan-to-value through participating lenders and is not an equity loan. Each works under its own rules, so this page deals with them separately.

Help to Buy mortgage rates

There is no single Help to Buy mortgage rate or universal loan-to-value limit. The mortgage rate and product depend on the lender, your circumstances, the first-charge borrowing and whether the equity loan stays in place or is repaid. Some lenders accept a retained equity loan; others do not. A remortgage that repays the equity loan may need a larger first-charge mortgage.

Compare the total cost of the mortgage, any equity-loan interest and fees, legal work and valuation. For English equity loans, Homes England lists a £115 administration fee to remortgage to a new lender or to borrow more with the loan kept, and a £200 fee for part or full equity-loan repayment (schedule last updated 23 June 2025). These figures apply to England only, not to Help to Buy Wales. The Welsh guides publish no administration-fee amounts; apart from interest, the only scheme charge they give an amount for is the £1 monthly management fee. The buyers' guide says administration fees may apply and a full list of charges is available from Help to Buy (Wales) Ltd, so ask it for the current charges.

Help to Buy mortgage criteria

Scheme conditions and lender criteria are separate. The table summarises the published scheme rules and shows where lender criteria decide the answer; a lender must still assess the property, affordability and its own product criteria. Fees and lender availability should be checked for the individual transaction.

Lenders differ most on an existing equity loan. Four examples from lenders' own published intermediary criteria, checked on 29 September 2026, show the range. Nationwide does not accept a remortgage where the equity loan will continue, and allows up to 90% loan-to-value only where the sole purpose of the borrowing is to pay off the equity loan. Santander also requires the equity loan to be repaid, with a 90% maximum and, above 85%, the money used only to repay the first mortgage and the equity loan. NatWest accepts an England-only remortgage with the equity loan kept, up to 75% loan-to-value, provided the balance and term do not increase, and includes 3% of the equity share, divided by 12, as a monthly commitment in its affordability check. Skipton accepts like-for-like remortgages, or remortgages to buy the whole government share, up to 90% loan-to-value, but does not allow partial repayment of the equity loan. The published pages do not all say whether loan-to-value is measured on the mortgage alone or on the mortgage plus the equity loan, so the figures are not directly comparable. Each is one lender's published rule, which can change. None describes Mortgage Lane's panel or decides any application; an adviser checks the current criteria for your loan, property and borrowing.

Help to Buy options in 2026

Keep the equity loan and change mortgage deal

In England, a rate switch with your existing lender and no extra borrowing does not need an application to the equity-loan administrator; check with your lender whether it needs a deed of postponement (a legal document confirming the mortgage ranks ahead of the equity loan). Homes England guidance explains the process. The Welsh post-completions guide also says no consent is needed for a rate switch, but its buyer guide conflicts; confirm the current Welsh process with Help to Buy (Wales) Ltd before proceeding. Moving to a new lender while retaining the equity loan requires scheme consent, a lender that accepts the second charge and legal work to preserve charge priority.

In England, borrowing more with the equity loan kept is allowed only to repay part or all of it, for approved structural alterations or to fund a transfer of equity, and needs Homes England's permission. Homes England may also consider, case by case, extra borrowing to clear leasehold or mortgage arrears. The loan-to-value normally cannot exceed 75%. Where part of the equity loan is being repaid, Homes England's table links the maximum to the equity-loan share: 85% for a 10% share, 75% for 20%, 65% for 30% and 55% for 40%, so in each case the mortgage and the equity-loan share together come to no more than 95% of the value. Homes England confirms which share applies to your case. These are the scheme's limits for extra borrowing, not a cap on every like-for-like remortgage, and a lender's own limit can be lower.

Repay all or part of the equity loan

The repayment is based on the percentage being redeemed and the home’s current value, established through a scheme-compliant RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) valuation that you arrange and pay for; the valuation is valid for 3 months. In England, repaying in full needs no permission from Homes England, though the £200 fee applies, and a part repayment must be at least 10% of current market value and cannot leave less than 5% outstanding. In Wales, the first part repayment must be at least 10%, with at least 5% remaining. The scheme’s process, valuation, legal work and any charges need to be included in the decision. On sale, you repay the equity-loan share of the higher of the agreed sale price and the scheme-compliant market valuation. In Wales, if the sale price is below the valuation, the scheme asks you to contact it to discuss which figure is used.

Buy through Help to Buy Wales

Welsh eligibility rules require an eligible new-build home costing no more than £300,000 from a registered builder, a deposit of at least 5% and a first-charge repayment mortgage from a qualifying lender. The repayment mortgage must be at least 25% of the price, and the deposit and mortgage together must cover at least 80%. Homes sold through the scheme need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of B or better. The equity mortgage (the Welsh scheme's name for its equity loan) is at least 10% and up to 20% of the market value; the 75% mortgage shown in scheme examples assumes a 5% deposit and the full 20% equity mortgage, and is not a fixed requirement. The home must be your only home. The eligibility page does not limit the scheme to first-time buyers (GOV.UK's summary page describes it as for first-time buyers), but you cannot rent out an existing home and buy a second home through it; Help to Buy (Wales) Ltd confirms eligibility for each buyer. The scheme runs its own affordability checks alongside the lender's: its September 2024 buyers' guide says applicants who could get a 90% mortgage without the scheme are not eligible. Applications must be submitted by 31 March 2027. Availability remains subject to scheme conditions and funding.

Forces Help to Buy and the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme

Forces Help to Buy is an interest-free advance for eligible Regular service personnel of up to 50% of annual salary, capped at £25,000, towards buying a home, including the deposit and costs such as legal and estate agent fees. It is normally repaid through salary over up to 10 years, and Reservists are not eligible. A mortgage lender may ask about the advance and may count its repayments in its affordability assessment.

The 2025 Mortgage Guarantee Scheme is a guarantee to participating lenders, not a government equity loan to the buyer. Eligibility and property criteria are assessed by the participating lender. The scheme rules exclude applicants they define as credit-impaired and purchases made through a shared ownership or shared equity scheme, but a deposit from a Help to Buy ISA, Forces Help to Buy or a Lifetime ISA does not by itself make a loan ineligible. The rules list no maximum property price or excluded construction type; the lender's own property and price criteria still apply.

Other routes in England

Depending on eligibility, alternatives include Shared Ownership, First Homes where available locally, a 95% mortgage and family help with a deposit. Deposit Unlock, the house builders' 95% new-build mortgage scheme, closed to new completions in April 2026. When we checked on 29 September 2026, the government had announced a proposed Your First Home equity-loan scheme (26 September 2026) for first-time buyers of new-build homes in England. It was not open, and the government said details, including costs and timelines, would follow at the Budget on 28 October 2026.

How a Help to Buy mortgage is arranged

For an existing equity loan, the steps are:

1. Check the loan and mortgage. Confirm the equity-loan scheme and version, the current equity-loan percentage and interest from the administrator's statement, the mortgage balance, rate end date and any borrowing required.
2. Compare the routes. Price a same-lender rate switch, a new-lender remortgage with the equity loan retained, and part or full repayment where affordable.
3. Check the process. Moving to a new lender with the equity loan retained needs administrator consent and a deed of priority or postponement (a legal document confirming the new mortgage ranks ahead of the equity loan). Repayment needs a scheme-compliant RICS valuation, valid for 3 months, and the administrator's redemption process. For a Welsh loan, confirm with Help to Buy (Wales) Ltd whether a same-lender rate switch needs consent, and ask for its current charges for any Welsh transaction.
4. Complete legal work. The conveyancer and lender arrange charge priority or release and complete the mortgage and equity-loan transaction.

Buying through Help to Buy Wales. Reserve an eligible home with a builder registered with the scheme (the reservation fee is no more than £500), take independent advice, arrange a repayment mortgage with a qualifying lender and apply through the scheme; applications must be submitted by 31 March 2027. Help to Buy (Wales) Ltd runs its own eligibility and affordability checks alongside the lender's.

The equity loan arithmetic

The figures below are illustrative, not a mortgage offer. They assume a £300,000 purchase with a 5% deposit, a 20% equity loan and a £225,000 repayment mortgage. Five years later the home is worth £360,000. A 20% full redemption would be £72,000, subject to the scheme valuation and any outstanding fees. A 10% part repayment would be £36,000, leaving a 10% equity-loan share.

Interest begins in year six at 1.75% of the original equity-loan amount, with a £1 monthly management fee from the start. Each April the rate then rises by a percentage of itself, which differs between English scheme versions: RPI (Retail Prices Index) plus 1% for 2013 to 2021 loans; CPI (Consumer Prices Index) plus 2% for 2021 to 2023 loans. The Welsh buyer guide uses CPI plus 2%. As an illustration only, if CPI were 2.5%, a 1.75% rate on a 2021 to 2023 loan would rise by 4.5% of itself to about 1.83%, taking interest on £60,000 from £1,050 to about £1,097 a year. After a part repayment, interest is worked out on the equity-loan share left. Check the agreement for the individual loan.

The example remortgage assumes a 5.2% mortgage rate over 25 years solely to show the arithmetic. The new lender will assess affordability and its own loan-to-value policy. Repaying 10% instead of the full 20% would need a new mortgage of about £235,936, about 65.5% of £360,000, and leave a 10% equity loan in place, which only a lender that accepts a retained equity loan could offer. Repaying an equity loan removes its future interest, but could increase mortgage borrowing and costs. Compare the full cost before deciding.

Related reading: our Help to Buy equity loan guide explains how existing equity loans work; 95% mortgages and the first-time buyer mortgage guide cover other low-deposit routes.