HELP TO BUY EQUITY LOAN 

This is available for first-time buyers who want to buy a ‘new build’ house within the relevant regional price cap (See table below). This must be used to buy your main residence and can’t be used to buy a second home or a buy-to-let property.

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You need a deposit of at least 5% of the purchase price. You can borrow up to 20% (40% in London) of the purchase price as an interest-free equity loan. You don’t pay interest on the equity loan for the first five years. You start to pay interest in year six, on the equity loan amount you borrowed. The equity loan payments are interest only, so you don’t reduce the amount you owe.

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The property must be:

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• a new-build

• sold by a Help to Buy registered homebuilder

• the only home you own and live in

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It must not have been lived in by anyone before you buy it.

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There’s also a ‘maximum property purchase price’ limit for the home you buy depending on which region it’s in. You can buy a home up to and including the maximum property purchase price limit.

 

Region Maximum property purchase price:

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North East £186,100

North West £224,400

Yorkshire and the Humber £228,100

East Midlands £261,900

West Midlands £255,600

East of England £407,400

London £600,000

South East £437,600

South West £349,000

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SHARED OWENERSHIP

It’s a government-backed scheme to help you onto the property ladder. You first buy a share of between 10% and 75% of the value of a home (usually a new-build flat or house). So who owns the rest? Either a local housing association or the developer who built it – your de facto landlord.

Every month, you then pay a mortgage on the bit you do own plus rent on the share you don’t. For this reason, it’s also known as ‘part rent, part buy'

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Could one of these schemes help you get on the property ladder? Book your first consultation to find out more.