Help to Buy Repayment in Full
Redeeming your Help to Buy equity loan in full is a major financial milestone. Whether you are planning to sell your property or intending to remortgage to clear the debt before your five-year interest-free period concludes, the legal process requires strict adherence to Homes England guidelines.
This guide explains exactly how Help to Buy redemption works, how your final repayment figure is calculated against the current market value of your home, and the step-by-step process required to formally settle the loan. If you are only partially repaying, you can read our detailed step-by-step guide to Help to Buy Staircasing.
What is Help to Buy redemption?
Help to Buy redemption is the formal legal process of repaying your government equity loan in its entirety. When you originally purchased your property using the scheme, Homes England lent you a percentage of the home's purchase price (typically 20%, or up to 40% in London) to boost your deposit.
The most critical factor to understand about redemption is that your equity loan is not a fixed cash debt. It is a percentage-based loan tied to your property's current market value when you choose to repay it.
- If your property value has increased: The amount you must repay will be higher than the original cash amount you borrowed.
- If your property value has decreased: The amount you repay will be lower, but you are still strictly liable to pay back the original percentage share based on that new, lower valuation.
For example, if you borrowed 20% to help buy a £250,000 property, your original loan value was £50,000. If you decide to redeem the loan when the property's current market value has increased to £300,000, your final redemption figure will be 20% of £300,000, which is £60,000 (£10,000 more than the original loan).
How do you redeem a Help to Buy?
Homeowners typically initiate the redemption process in one of four scenarios:
- Selling the property: The loan is settled automatically from the sale proceeds.
- Remortgaging: Borrowing additional funds against the property's equity to pay off the government loan before the initial five-year interest-free period ends.
- Savings or gift: You use personal savings, a work bonus, or a financial gift from family to settle the loan without borrowing from a mortgage lender.
- End of the mortgage term: The loan must be repaid in full after 25 years, or when your main mortgage term expires, regardless of whether you have sold the home.
Click to see the different processes to redeem your Help to Buy loan through a sale, remortgage, or a gift/savings.
Repaying your loan by remortgaging
If you wish to stay in your home but want to clear the equity loan (often to avoid the escalating interest fees that begin in year six), you can remortgage. This involves taking out a new, larger mortgage to pay off both your existing mortgage and the government equity loan.
To settle the equity loan in full without selling the property, your Help to Buy conveyancing solicitor will guide you through this standard 9-step process:
- Help to Buy Valuation: Obtain a Homes England-compliant RICS Valuation. We have RICS valuers throughout England & Wales available to book today, and reports are typically sent within 5 working days.
- Application: Submit your Help to Buy Application Form, including your RICS valuation, and pay your Homes England administration fee.
- ID and Source of Funds: Provide your identification and proof of how you are funding the repayment to your solicitor.
- Mortgage Offer: Progress your new mortgage application. Once approved, the mortgage offer or further advance letter is sent directly to your solicitor. This typically takes 10 to 20 working days.
- Source of Funds Certificate: Your conveyancing solicitor reviews the mortgage offer. Once satisfied, they submit a Certificate of Source of Funds to Help to Buy within 3 working days.
- Redemption Statement: Help to Buy issues a Redemption Statement within 10 to 15 working days, confirming the exact final figure you need to repay.
- Completion Statement: Your solicitor prepares the legal file for completion and sends their legal undertaking to Help to Buy, requesting their Authority to Complete.
- Authority to Complete: Help to Buy replies with the formal Authority to Complete (normally after 15 working days).
- Completion: Your solicitor draws down the funds from your new mortgage and pays off the equity loan (and your old mortgage, if applicable). Once repaid in full, an e-DS1 form is submitted to HM Land Registry to formally remove the Help to Buy charge from your property title.
Repaying your loan by selling your property
You can sell your Help to Buy property on the open market at any time. When you sell, the equity loan is automatically repaid from the sale proceeds after your primary mortgage has been settled with your lender. Whatever equity remains belongs to you and can be used as a deposit for your next home.
The conveyancing process for selling a property remains the same, with draft contracts and replying to enquiries; however, here are the additional 7 steps when selling a Help to Buy property:
- Help to Buy Valuation: Obtain a Homes England-compliant RICS Valuation to establish the current market value (this determines your final repayment figure).
- Application: Submit your Help to Buy Application Form, including your RICS valuation, and pay your administration fee.
- ID Verification: Provide your identification documents to your conveyancing solicitor.
- Redemption Statement: Help to Buy issues a Redemption Statement, usually within 10 to 15 working days, confirming the exact amount to be repaid from the sale proceeds.
- Completion Statement: Your solicitor prepares the legal file for completion and sends their legal undertaking to Help to Buy, requesting their Authority to Complete.
- Authority to Complete: Help to Buy provides the Authority to Complete after processing the solicitor's undertaking.
- Completion: On the day your sale completes, your solicitor receives the purchase funds from the buyer, pays off your main mortgage, repays the Help to Buy equity loan in full, and transfers any remaining profit to you. An e-DS1 form is then submitted to HM Land Registry to remove the charge.
You can read our complete guide here: How to Sell a Help to Buy Property.
Repaying your loan using savings or a family gift
If you have built up personal savings or have been offered a financial gift from a family member, you can settle your Help to Buy equity loan without taking out a new mortgage. This is often the fastest route to redemption, as you do not need to wait for a mortgage offer.
However, because you are using private capital, your conveyancing solicitor must perform strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks on the person providing the money. Here is the step-by-step process:
- Help to Buy Valuation: Obtain a Homes England-compliant RICS Valuation to determine the current market value and establish exactly how much you need to repay.
- Application: Submit your Help to Buy Application Form alongside your RICS valuation, and pay the Homes England administration fee.
- ID and Gifted Funds Checks: Provide your identification. Because the funds are a gift, your family member must also provide their ID, bank statements that prove the source of the funds, and sign a formal declaration confirming that the money is an unconditional gift, not a loan: this is called a Gifted Deposit Letter.
- Source of Funds Certificate: Once your solicitor has completed the mandatory AML checks on the gifted money, they will submit a Certificate of Source of Funds to Help to Buy.
- Redemption Statement: Help to Buy issues a Redemption Statement, typically within 10 to 15 working days, confirming the exact final figure required.
- Transferring the Funds: You or your family member will transfer the exact redemption amount into your solicitor's secure client account ahead of the agreed completion date.
- Completion Statement: Your solicitor prepares the legal file and sends their undertaking to Help to Buy to request the formal Authority to Complete.
- Authority to Complete: Help to Buy processes the undertaking and provides the Authority to Complete.
- Completion: Your solicitor transfers the funds to Homes England to settle the equity loan in full. An e-DS1 form is then submitted to HM Land Registry to formally remove the government charge from your title deeds.
We provide the complete Help to Buy redemption service from local RICS surveyors, to specialist Help to Buy Solicitors.
- Partial or full repayment.
- Repaying using a sale, remortgage, or from your own savings/gift.
- Fixed-fee, no-obligation quotes.
- On 99% of mortgage lender panels.
How long does it take for the Land Registry to remove the Help to Buy charge?
Once your equity loan is repaid in full, an electronic discharge (e-DS1) form is submitted to HM Land Registry. This document formally instructs them to remove the Homes England legal charge from your property's title register. For sellers, you needn't worry; however, if you have repaid via a remortgage or from a gift, then you may find it takes some time for the Land Registry to remove the Homes England charge and restriction.
Because removing a charge is considered a straightforward update to an existing title, the Land Registry often processes these electronically within a few days to a couple of weeks. However, due to ongoing national backlogs at the Land Registry, it is not uncommon for routine updates to take a few months to officially show on the register.
Do you need to worry about this delay? No. As long as your conveyancing solicitor holds the completion statement confirming the funds have cleared, and the e-DS1 has been officially lodged, the legal transaction is considered complete. If you are selling or remortgaging, this administrative delay at the Land Registry will not hold up your house move or prevent your new mortgage rate from taking effect.
What if it is now delaying my future sale? Land Registry delays that cause a detriment to a future remortgage or sale can be expedited. You must contact the solicitor who handled the repayment of your Help to Buy loan, and ask them to submit an expedition request to the Land Registry, with evidence of your transaction that is being delayed such as the sales memo, contract of sale, or new remortgage offer.
Partner & Conveyancing Solicitor
The goal of repaying your Help to Buy loan
The goal of repaying your loan and keeping your property is to own the equity the government currently holds. This means when you eventually come to sell, once you have paid off your main mortgage, 100% of the remaining money is yours to keep.
From a legal standpoint, you know your property is subject to a Help to Buy loan because it will have a specific restriction on your title deeds at HM Land Registry. It typically looks something like this:
(XX.XX.XXXX) RESTRICTION: No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be registered without a written consent signed by Homes and Communities Agency of [XXX Address XXX]...
You will also have a corresponding note in the Charges Register section stating:
(XX.XX.XXXX) REGISTERED CHARGE dated [XX.XX.XXXX].
(XX.XX.XXXX) Proprietor: HOMES AND COMMUNITIES AGENCY of [XXX Address XXX]
When you formally redeem your equity loan in full, your Help to Buy conveyancing solicitor submits the electronic discharge to the Land Registry to remove both of these entries, ensuring you no longer have any debt owing to Homes England.
Understanding the interest charges after 5 years
One of the primary reasons homeowners choose to remortgage or sell is to avoid the escalating interest fees attached to the Help to Buy scheme. For the first five years after purchasing your home, your equity loan is interest-free (though you are still required to pay a nominal £1 monthly management fee).
Starting in year six, you will be charged interest on the original equity loan amount you borrowed. It is crucial to remember that this interest fee is entirely separate from your main mortgage payment; you will make two payments each month.
- The starting rate: In year six, the interest rate is set at 1.75% of your original equity loan amount.
- Annual increases: Every year after that, the interest rate increases. For most loans, it rises by the Retail Prices Index (RPI) plus an additional 1%. (For loans taken out after December 2019, the measure changed to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) plus 2%).
Because these interest rates compound and increase annually, the monthly cost of keeping the equity loan can rise significantly over time, prompting many homeowners to redeem the loan before the end of their interest-free period.
The Starting Point: Getting your Homes England-compliant RICS valuation
Whether you are remortgaging or selling, your final redemption figure is dictated by the current market value of your property. To establish this, Homes England requires a specific type of valuation report. A standard mortgage valuation or an estate agent's appraisal will be rejected.
Your RICS valuer must adhere to the following strict Homes England criteria:
- RICS Qualified: The valuer must be registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) at a level of MRICS or FRICS; they cannot be AssocRICS.
- Independent: The surveyor must be entirely independent of any estate agent involved in the sale of your property, and they cannot be related to or known by you.
- Physical Inspection: The valuer must conduct a full interior and exterior inspection of the property (drive-by valuations are not accepted).
- Comparable Evidence: The report must provide at least 3 comparable properties and their sale prices. These comparables must be like-for-like in terms of type, size, and age, and must be located within a 2-mile radius of your home.
- Report Formatting: The final report must be on headed paper, signed by the RICS surveyor, and addressed directly to the Help to Buy Administrator.
Once your surveyor provides the valuation report, it is only valid for 3 months. You must complete your redemption or staircasing transaction within this window. If your transaction is delayed, you can request a Desktop Valuation from the original surveyor to extend the validity period by a further 3 months, provided you request it before the original 3-month period expires.
For a more in-depth guide, please read: What is a Help to Buy Valuation?
Expert Tip: The chicken and egg issue with valuations
With only 3 months until they expire, you want to ensure you get your valuation at the point you start the conveyancing process; however, what if you are going to struggle to get your mortgage offer? You may want to try and start the remortgage process off first before getting your valuation.
It can often be unavoidable that your valuation will expire, and Homes England knows this. It is why they allow you to extend the valuation using a cheaper Desktop Valuation. You should ask your RICS surveyor what their cost is for this upfront, and only work with a surveyor where the fee is cheaper than £180 INC VAT for a desktop.
CEO of SAM Conveyancing
What could delay your repayment?
While your conveyancing solicitor will work to make the redemption process as smooth as possible, there are several common bottlenecks that can unexpectedly delay your transaction:
- Cladding and Building Safety Issues: If your property is an apartment affected by the cladding crisis, you may need an EWS1 (External Wall Fire Review) form. You must inform Homes England and your RICS valuer of any cladding issues or building regulation breaches before the inspection. Failing to do so can result in Homes England rejecting your valuation report.
- Expired RICS Valuations: Your initial RICS valuation is strictly valid for only 3 months. If your property sale or remortgage takes longer than this to finalise, the valuation will expire. You will then be forced to pause the legal process and pay your surveyor for a Desktop Valuation to extend the timeframe by a further 3 months.
- Unpaid Arrears: Homes England will not authorise the repayment of your equity loan if you have fallen behind on your £1 monthly management fees or your interest charges. All arrears must be completely cleared before they will issue the final Authority to Complete.
- Strict Administrative Notice Periods: Homes England requires a minimum of 15 working days' notice from your solicitor to process the legal undertaking and issue the final Authority to Complete. If your house move is delayed and the completion date changes, your solicitor must submit a new undertaking, and the 15-day waiting period often resets.
- Source of Funds Enquiries: If you are redeeming your loan using personal savings or a financial gift from family, your solicitor is legally obligated to perform rigorous Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks. Delays in providing clear bank statements or a signed Gifted Deposit Letter will stall the legal work.
- Unregistered Property: On rare occasions, you may discover that your original property purchase was never officially registered at HM Land Registry. While this could be due to extreme Land Registry backlogs, it is sometimes because your original solicitor neglected to finalise the post-completion work. If this happens, your current solicitor will need to investigate. If your original law firm is no longer trading, you will need to contact their regulator (such as the SRA or CLC) to locate the successor practice handling their files.
Specialist Help to Buy Repayment Solicitors Throughout England and Wales
We can help repay your Help to Buy loan wherever you live in the country.
Frequently Asked Questions
Andrew Boast FMAAT is a qualified accountant, conveyancing specialist and author with over 25 years of experience in the UK property sector. Since beginning his career in 2000 within established SRA and CLC-regulated conveyancing solicitor firms, Andrew has overseen the legal journeys of more than 75,000 clients.
He is the self-published author of the first-time buyer guide: How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone, and a frequent contributor to mainstream UK media on legislative updates, property law, first-time buyer guides, conveyancing best practices, and stamp duty changes. Andrew specialises in resolving complex title issues, property conflict disputes, and property tax options, streamlining the enquiry process to reduce transaction times and maintaining a client-friendly focus.
Amanda Ambler is a highly accomplished conveyancing specialist with over 15 years of dedicated experience across residential property law, legal compliance, and practice management. Having held senior roles, including Head of Legal Practice and Head of Conveyancing at established UK law firms, Amanda possesses a profound, hands-on understanding of the technical intricacies of the property market.
As the designated Legal Content Reviewer for SAM Conveyancing, Amanda ensures that every guide, legal update, and resource published meets the absolute highest standards of accuracy, regulatory compliance, and factual integrity. Her rigorous review process guarantees that complex property legislation and industry processes are communicated clearly, transparently, and safely for home buyers and sellers alike.
