{"id":1863,"date":"2026-06-01T07:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T07:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/?p=1863"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:02:10","slug":"is-help-to-buy-available-for-everyone-not-just-first-time-buyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dy36-2.stage.yopa-dev.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/is-help-to-buy-available-for-everyone-not-just-first-time-buyers\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Help to Buy still available?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHelp to buy\u201d refers to government run\ninitiatives in England which were established in 2013 to make home-buying a\nmore accessible option to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The main aspect of the \u201cHelp to Buy\u201d scheme was the help to buy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/help-to-buy-equity-loan\">equity loan<\/a> and from 2013 to 31 March 2021, the loan was available to both first-time buyers and existing homeowners buying new build properties from registered Help to Buy homebuilders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Via the equity loan, the government lent a buyer up to 20% (40% in London) of the cost of a new home on an interest-free basis for the first five years as long as they could pay a 5% deposit and raise a mortgage for the remaining 75% of the property price. After the initial interest-free period, buyers were then charged 1.75% interest on the loan, growing each year in accordance with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ons.gov.uk\/economy\/inflationandpriceindices\">retail prices index<\/a>, making it advisable to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/manage-your-help-to-buy-equity-loan#repay-your-equity-loan\">repay<\/a> as much of the loan as you could during this initial 5-year period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following restrictions also applied to anyone applying for the equity loan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You would only be eligible for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/how-to-calculate-mortgage-interest\/\">repayment<\/a> mortgage.<\/li><li>You must have been able to cover the cost of any fees associated with the purchase and the subsequent interest payments. <\/li><li>You could not use help to buy to purchase a second home (which applied to any residential properties or land with residential planning permission which you already owned).<\/li><li>You could not sublet your help to buy property (or rent out an existing property and seek to buy an additional property via help to buy).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, whilst the Government confirmed an extension of the help to buy scheme from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023, given the higher number of 95% mortgages available at the time, this extension was only applicable to first-time buyers and <strong>the purchase needed to be completed by 6pm on 31 March 2023<\/strong>. The following regional price limits were also introduced from 1 April 2021. Prior to this the price cap was \u00a3600,000 across the board.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table\"><tbody><tr><td>\n  <strong>Region<\/strong>\n  <\/td><td>   <strong>Maximum property purchase price<\/strong>   <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  North East\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3186,100\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  North West\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3224,400\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  Yorkshire and\n  the Humber\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3228,100\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  East Midlands\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3261,900\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  West Midlands\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3255,600\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  East of\n  England\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3407,400\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  London\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3600,000\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  South East\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3437,600\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  South West\n  <\/td><td>\n  \u00a3349,000\n  <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those living in other parts of the UK, there have been similar help to buy schemes available, however, these closed in Northern Ireland and Scotland in December 2016 and March 2021, respectively. The current Welsh Help to Buy <a href=\"https:\/\/gov.wales\/help-buy-wales\">scheme<\/a> provides an Equity Mortgage of up to 20% of the purchase price on a new build home as long as the buyer contributes a 5% deposit and takes out a repayment mortgage to cover the remaining amount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Government did also offer a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/help-to-buy-isa\">help to buy ISA<\/a> up until 30 November 2019, whereby you could pay in up to \u00a3200 a month and claim a Government top up of 25% (up to \u00a312,000), although this was only ever available for first time buyers. Anyone with an existing help to buy ISA can still deposit savings until 30 November 2029 and claim the government bonus to put towards your first home until 1 December 2030. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Are there any\ndisadvantages to the Help to Buy equity loan?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have taken out an equity loan to purchase your home, it is important to be aware that should you decide to sell your property before you pay off the government loan then you will be required to pay back the percentage you borrowed, rather than the amount, which could mean paying back more than you borrowed in the first place if the value of your home has increased.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, if you bought your property\nfor \u00a3400,000 using a 20% (\u00a380,000) equity loan and you still owed 20% to the\nGovernment when you decided to sell, if your house were to sell for \u00a3450,000\nyou would be repaying the Government \u00a390,000, \u00a310,000 more than you originally borrowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/how-do-you-remortgage-your-house\/\">Remortgaging<\/a> can also be more complicated. Whilst it\nis still possible to remortgage to gain a better mortgage rate as you would do\nwith any other property, most lenders will want a homeowner to have completely\npaid off the help to buy equity loan before they approve the remortgage.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Are there any other <\/strong>ways to get financial help from the government to buy a home<strong>?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even though you can no longer apply for a Help to Buy equity loan, there are other options you can consider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the more adventurous homebuyer, you\nmay decide to build your own home. In which case there is a Help to Build\nequity loan, with different arrangements in place in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/apply-for-help-to-build-equity-loan\">England<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/gov.wales\/get-help-build-home-self-build-wales\">Wales<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mygov.scot\/self-build-loan-fund\">Scotland<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, a more popular option is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/what-does-shared-ownership-mean\/\">shared\nownership<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the name suggests, you buy a\npercentage of your home (usually between 25-75%) and the local housing\nassociation, council or private developer owns the rest; you then pay rent to\nthem for the percentage that they own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More information on shared ownership\nopportunities can be found via the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sharetobuy.com\/properties\/\">Share\nto Buy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/propertybooking.co.uk\/\">Property\nBooking<\/a> websites\nalthough the arrangements for shared ownership purchases in <a href=\"https:\/\/gov.wales\/shared-ownership-wales\">Wales<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mygov.scot\/shared-ownership\">Scotland<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nidirect.gov.uk\/articles\/co-ownership\">Northern\nIreland<\/a> differ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How is Help to Buy different to Shared\nOwnership?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Help to Buy scheme meant that you owned the whole property whereas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/what-does-shared-ownership-mean\/\">shared ownership<\/a> means exactly that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The benefit of buying a shared ownership\nproperty is that this is a more affordable upfront option with a smaller\nmortgage and deposit. Just like the help to buy scheme, those who wish to\nultimately own their house outright have the option to \u201cstaircase\u201d with a\nshared ownership property. This means you buy the housing association\u2019s share\nof your property from them over time until you own 100% of your property. If\nyou decide to sell your property before you own 100% of it outright, you and\nthe housing association simply split the money from the sale based on the\npercentage of the property you own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, you can only buy a shared\nownership home if your household income is \u00a380,000 a year or less (\u00a390,000 a\nyear in London) and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>you\nare a first-time buyer;<\/li><li>you\npreviously owned a home (with a partner perhaps) but cannot afford to buy one\non your own now; or<\/li><li>you\nare an existing owner of a shared ownership property who is looking to move to\nanother shared ownership property.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shared ownership scheme also covers both new build properties and existing shared ownership properties (although the buyer must match or exceed the share amount owned by the current owner). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are the disadvantages of buying a\nshared ownership property?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Shared\nownership properties are always <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/what-is-leasehold\/\">leasehold<\/a>. Although some (but not all) shared\nownership properties can become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/what-does-freehold-mean\/\">freehold<\/a> once owned outright.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Not\nall mortgage lenders will offer a mortgage for a shared ownership home and\nthere is usually more paperwork involved.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You\nmust pay the full amount for ground rent and any other service charges rather\nthan a reduced amount based on the percentage of the property you own.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/stamp-duty-calculator\/\">Stamp duty<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/sdlt-shared-ownership-property\">payable<\/a> on the total value of the property\nrather than just the percentage that you own.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You\nmay need to seek permission from the housing association before making any\nstructural repairs or changes to the property.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You\nusually cannot sublet to a roommate or lodger.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If\nthe property increases in value, it can take longer to own outright. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If\nyou decide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/how-do-you-value-a-shared-ownership-home\/\">sell<\/a>, the housing association has first refusal in finding a\nbuyer before you can put the property on the open market and has a say in who\neventually buys the property.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"valuation-widgets\">\n    <div class=\"valuation-widgets__col\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/online-valuation\" class=\"valuation-widget\">\n            <div class=\"media\">\n    <div class=\"media__media\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dy36-2.stage.yopa-dev.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/wp-content\/themes\/yopa\/assets\/images\/icon-house.svg\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\">    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"media__inner\">\n        <div class=\"media__heading\">\n            Instant online <span class=\"chevron\">valuation<\/span>        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"media__content\">\n            <p>Get a rough estimate of your home's value now.<\/p>        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"valuation-widgets__col\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yopa.co.uk\/property-valuation\" class=\"valuation-widget\">\n            <div class=\"media\">\n    <div class=\"media__media\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dy36-2.stage.yopa-dev.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/wp-content\/themes\/yopa\/assets\/images\/icon-currency.svg\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\">    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"media__inner\">\n        <div class=\"media__heading\">\n            Face-to-face <span class=\"chevron\">valuation<\/span>        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"media__content\">\n            <p>Book an appointment with your local Yopa agent.<\/p>        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHelp to buy\u201d refers to government run initiatives in England which were established in 2013 to make home-buying a more accessible option to all. The main aspect of the \u201cHelp to Buy\u201d scheme was the help to buy equity loan and from 2013 to 31 March 2021, the loan was available to both first-time buyers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buying"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is Help to Buy still available? - Yopa Homeowners Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dy36-2.stage.yopa-dev.co.uk\/homeowners-hub\/is-help-to-buy-available-for-everyone-not-just-first-time-buyers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Help to Buy still available? - Yopa Homeowners Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cHelp to buy\u201d refers to government run initiatives in England which were established in 2013 to make home-buying a more accessible option to all. 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