Do you have a Help to Buy equity loan to redeem? We can help.

Did you buy a new-build property before March 2023?

If so, you may have benefitted from a Government scheme to incentivise first time buyers getting onto the housing ladder amid rising house prices.

As a result, the Help to Buy Equity Loan was introduced. First time buyers with a 5% deposit may have found themselves eligible to borrow an extra 20% interest-free for five years. Once the five years had elapsed, homeowners could either choose to begin paying interest on the loan or repay the loan by either selling the property or remortgaging.

So how can we help?

To repay the loan, the homeowner must find out how much the property is worth. To do this, they must obtain a formal valuation of the property from a RICS-accredited surveyor and Registered Valuer - which we are!

Although this incarnation of the Help to Buy scheme has now been superseded, there will be a need for valuations for this now defunct scheme up until the early part of 2028 so bear us in mind if you either selling or remortgaging your new-build.

Our aim is to establish the property's Market Value. The RICS defines this as:

"The estimated amount for which an asset or liability should exchange on the valuation date between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arm’s length transaction after proper marketing where the parties had each acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion."

To discover the property's market value, we begin by collecting a combination of on-site data and desktop research. We then use this information to obtain "comparables" - similar sized properties within a specific radius of the subject property which have sold recently on the open market. It is extremely unlikely to find identical properties, so certain adjustments are made to factor in perhaps a larger footprint, the presence of a garage or off-street parking or the upgrading from a semi-detached to a detached property. A figure is then deduced from the range left over once all of these adjustments are made.

Get in touch if you are close to redeeming your Help to Buy Equity Loan!