Help to Buy Repayment
04/04/2022
(Last Updated: 16/08/2023)
38,077
4 min read
Previously, you would always deal with a company called Target HCA when redeeming a Help to Buy Equity Loan. This has now been taken over by Lenvi, however the process to repay your equity loan remains the same.
Click to see the different process to redeem your Help to Buy loan through a sale, remortgage paying in full or staircasing part of the loan:
Can I pay off my Help to Buy loan by remortgaging?
You can start the Help to Buy Redeem process without having to sell. This process covers if you don't sell the property, but do settle in full the loan (normally through a remortgage, further loan or personal savings).
-
1
Obtain a RICS valuation for the property.
2
Send Target your valuation, solicitor's details and pay your Administration Fee.
3
Target confirm in writing if they approve the valuation and how much you need to pay to redeem the loan.
4
Solicitor handles the rest of the legal work to redeem the equity loan including ID checks, obtaining redemption statement and handling completion.
Can I sell my house if I have Help to Buy?
You can sell the property that the loan is secured over. However, it is important to remember that you will then have to repay the loan in full regardless of whether the property has gone up or down in value. The loan repayable is calculated as the loan percentage of either the current market value or the agreed sale price (whichever is higher).
In order to sell your property you will need to:
-
1
Obtain a RICS valuation for the property.
2
Send Target your valuation, solicitor's details and pay your Administration Fee.
3
Target will then confirm in writing if they approve the valuation and how much you need to pay to redeem the loan.
4
Your Help to Buy Redemption Solicitor handles the rest of the legal work to redeem the equity loan including ID checks, obtaining redemption statement, providing undertaking to Target, obtaining authority to proceed and handling completion.
Example of the value to repay the loan
Your loan at the outset was 20% of the purchase price of £250,000 then the loan value at that time was £50,000. When you sell you agree a sale price of £300,000 which means the value to repay the loan is 20% of £300,000 which is £60,000.
Staircasing your Help to Buy Repayment
Help to Buy Staircasing allows you partially redeem your Help to Buy equity loan, while at the same time getting to own more equity of your home. For more in-depth information on this topic, you can read our article - Help to Buy Staircasing.
-
1
Obtain a RICS valuation for the property.
2
Send Target your valuation, solicitor's details, confirm the % your are staircasing and pay your Administration Fee.
3
Target confirm in writing if they approve the valuation and how much you need to pay to settle your share of the loan
4
Your Help to Buy solicitor handles the rest of the legal work to partially redeem the equity loan including ID checks, obtaining redemption statement and handling completion.
Example of the value to repay the loan when staircasing
Your loan at the outset was 20% of the purchase price of £250,000 then the loan value at that time was £50,000. When you staircase you agree a property valuation of £300,000 and to staircase 10% which means the value to repay the loan is 10% of £300,000 which is £30,000.
What are the requirements to staircase a Help to Buy loan?
- The minimum amount you can staircase at one time is 10% (of the total market value of the property at the time you staircase);
- The above requirement means that, when the lenders’ equity in your property is less than 20% you can only repay the loan in full;
- You may only staircase in multiples of 10%, that is 10%, 20%, 30% etc; and
- You cannot staircase if there are any arrears of interest payments and/or management fees on your mortgage account. Any arrears must be cleared, before a staircase transaction can proceed.
How do you repay Help to Buy?
Help to Buy Repayment is the process undertaken by home owners who originally used the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to buy their first property. The loan is often repaid at the end of the first fixed mortgage term and settled by:
- Remortgaging
- Personal savings, a further loan or a gift from family
- Selling your property
To repay the loan in part or in full you must meet Target's requirements to obtain their Authority to Complete.
This articles explains the process of Help to Buy Redemption with all of the following providers - Target, HomeBuy Direct, FirstBuy, First Time Buyers Initiative (FTBI), Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme (AFHOS), Help to Buy and London Wide Initiative (LWI).
This form can only be used for Target Help to Buy Repayment Transaction.
What are the requirements for the RICS valuation surveyor?
- The Valuer must be registered with the recognised qualification of RICS;
- The Valuer must be independent to an estate agent;
- The report must be on headed paper, signed by the RICS surveyor and addressed to Target HCA;
- The Valuer MUST provide at least 3 comparable properties and sale prices;
- The comparables provided must be like for like in terms of property type, size, and age and within a 2 mile radius to the property that is being inspected;
- The Valuer must not be related or known to you;
- The Valuer must inspect the interior of the property and provide a full valuation report;
- Valuations carried out for bank or mortgage purposes are not acceptable; and
- A copy of the valuation report must be supplied to Target; the inspection date must be shown on the report.
Help to Buy Solicitors Fees
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What happens after 5 years Help to Buy?
For the first 5 years after you buy a house using the Help to Buy Scheme, you do not pay any interest on your loan. Once that period is up, you will start to be charged an interest fee of 1.75% of the loan you took. For example, if you borrow 20% of the purchase price of your house, the interest rate only applies to that 20%.
This is split into monthly payments. Every year, the rate will then rise according to the Retail Price Index and with an addition of 2%.
This is split into monthly payments. Every year, the rate will then rise according to the Retail Price Index and with an addition of 2%.
How can you contact Target?
Target has been wound down since the Help to Buy scheme closed. In addition, the repayment process is now administered by Lenvi. If you want customer support regarding your loan, you can reach out by mail or email:
- Email:customerservices@myhelptobuyloan.co.uk
- Address: Help to Buy customer services, PO Box 5262, Lancing, BN99 9HE
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Written by:
Andrew Boast
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.

Reviewed by:
Caragh Bailey
Caragh is an excellent writer in her own right as well as an accomplished copy editor for both fiction and non-fiction books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey and mortgage related articles.