Help to Buy Equity Loan: Repay, Remortgage or Sell

In England, the Help to Buy equity loan closed to new applications in October 2022, and the last purchases completed in March 2023. In Wales a separate Help to Buy scheme is still running, and we cover it below. If you already have an equity loan, though, the rules still apply to you for as long as the loan is outstanding, and the decisions about interest, repayment and remortgaging can be worth thousands of pounds.

This guide is mainly for existing Help to Buy homeowners in England. If you are a first-time buyer looking for help now, skip to what replaced Help to Buy.

How a Help to Buy equity loan works

You bought a new-build home with at least a 5% deposit. The government lent you up to 20% of the price, or up to 40% in London, as an equity loan. Your mortgage covered the rest.

The key point is that the loan is a percentage of your home’s value, not a fixed sum. If you borrowed 20%, you owe 20% of whatever your home is worth when you repay or sell. If your home has risen in value, the amount you owe has risen too.

When does Help to Buy interest start?

Your equity loan is interest-free for the first five years. From the start of year six, according to GOV.UK’s interest rules:

• Interest is charged at 1.75% of the amount you originally borrowed, paid monthly.
• Each April the rate rises by CPI plus 2%. If your loan is from the 2013 to 2021 scheme, it rises by RPI plus 1% instead.
• You also pay a £1 monthly management fee until the loan is repaid.

The interest does not reduce the loan. You can pay interest for years and still owe the same percentage of your home’s value.

How to repay a Help to Buy equity loan

You can repay part or all of the loan at any time. GOV.UK’s repayment rules say:

1. Get a valuation. You need a market valuation report from a chartered surveyor. It is valid for three months.
2. Pay the right amount. You repay your loan percentage of the current market value.
3. Part repayments have limits. The smallest part repayment is 10% of your home’s value, and you cannot leave less than 5% outstanding.
4. Pay the fee. Homes England charges a £200 administration fee to repay all or part of the loan.

You must repay in full when you sell your home, when you pay off your repayment mortgage, or at the end of the equity loan term, which is normally 25 years.

Should you repay early?

Repaying sooner can make sense when interest has started, when you expect your home’s value to keep rising, or when the loan is limiting your mortgage choice. Waiting can make sense if you have more expensive debts to clear first, or if repaying would leave you without an emergency fund. If values have fallen, repaying while they are lower reduces the amount you owe, but no one can promise what values will do next.

Remortgaging a Help to Buy home

When your mortgage deal ends you can remortgage, but the equity loan sits behind your mortgage, so Homes England’s rules apply. Their guidance on remortgaging without borrowing more and remortgaging and borrowing more sets out three situations:

Situation	Homes England permission	Admin fee
New deal with your current lender, no extra borrowing	Not needed, although your lender may ask for a deed of postponement	None from Homes England
Moving to a new lender, no extra borrowing	Needed	£115
Borrowing more to repay some or all of the equity loan	Needed	£200

Other rules that catch people out:

• What extra borrowing can be used for. Extra borrowing is allowed to repay the equity loan, to fund approved structural alterations or a transfer of equity. Other purposes, such as consolidating debts, are not on the permitted list.
• Loan-to-value limits. Your mortgage normally cannot exceed 75% of your home’s value. When you are part-repaying, the limit slides: 85% if you will owe a 10% share, 75% for 20%, 65% for 30% and 55% for 40%.
• Lender fees. Homes England may refuse a remortgage if the new lender’s charges exceed £2,000.
• Paperwork timing. The redemption statement must be less than 12 working days old, the valuation is valid for three months, and permission lasts six months.
• Negative equity. If you are in negative equity, you cannot remortgage and borrow more.

Can you remortgage to pay off Help to Buy completely?

Often, yes, if your income supports the larger mortgage. Using the earlier example, suppose your mortgage balance is now £165,000 and your home is worth £300,000. Borrowing an extra £60,000 to clear the 20% equity loan would give a £225,000 mortgage, which is 75% loan-to-value. Many lenders offer mainstream rates at that level, subject to affordability and credit checks.

Your monthly mortgage payment would rise, but the equity loan interest would stop and you would own 100% of your home. We compare those two figures before you decide. Our remortgage guide explains the wider remortgage process and costs.

Selling a Help to Buy home

When you sell, you repay the equity loan percentage of the market value or the agreed sale price, whichever is higher. You will need a valuation, and the repayment is taken from the sale proceeds alongside your mortgage. If you plan to buy again, work out your remaining deposit after the equity loan, mortgage and selling costs. Our moving home advice covers the next step.

Help to Buy in Wales

Help to Buy Wales is a separate scheme run by the Welsh Government, and it is still open. According to the Welsh Government’s eligibility rules, applications must be submitted by 31 March 2027. You buy a home costing up to £300,000 from a builder registered with the scheme, with a deposit of at least 5% and a repayment mortgage covering at least 80% of the price together. The equity loan provides the rest. You cannot rent out your current home and use the scheme to buy a second one.

Help to Buy ISA: is it still worth using?

The Help to Buy ISA closed to new savers in November 2019, but existing accounts still work. You can keep paying in until 30 November 2029 and must claim the bonus by 1 December 2030. The government adds 25%, up to £3,000, towards a first home costing no more than £250,000, or £450,000 in London. Your conveyancer claims the bonus, so tell them early. You cannot use the bonus from both a Help to Buy ISA and a Lifetime ISA on the same purchase.

What replaced Help to Buy for first-time buyers?

Nothing has replaced it like for like, but several routes do the same job of reducing the deposit or the mortgage you need:

• 5% deposit mortgages. The permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme supports lenders offering 91% to 95% loan-to-value mortgages on new-build and older homes.
• Lifetime ISA. A 25% government bonus on up to £4,000 a year, for homes up to £450,000. The government plans to replace it with a new first-time buyer ISA.
• Shared Ownership. Buy a share of a home and pay rent on the rest. Read our Shared Ownership guide.
• Deposit Unlock. Some developers offer new-build homes with a 5% deposit through participating lenders. See our new-build mortgage guide.
• Family help. A gifted deposit, guarantor mortgage or joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage.
• Your First Home. A new-build equity loan scheme announced in September 2026. It is not open yet, with details expected at the Budget on 28 October 2026.

Our first-time buyer mortgage guide explains each scheme, and our first-time buyer mortgage advice page explains how we help.

Help to Buy FAQs

Get advice on your Help to Buy loan

Whether you want to clear your equity loan, compare a remortgage with keeping it, or plan a move, we can work through the figures with you. Your initial consultation is free. If you go ahead, our standard broker fee is £499: £299 on application, refundable if the mortgage is declined under the terms of your fee agreement, and £200 when the mortgage offer is issued. Read more about our remortgage advice.