Compare Help to Buy mortgages

The Help to Buy scheme no longer exists for residents in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland. However Help to Buy - Wales is still open to applicants, with the scheme extended until September 2026. The Help to Buy - Wales scheme helps first-time buyers get onto the property ladder and purchase a new build property.

Buyers will need to contribute just 5% deposit from their own money, and then a government loan is added on top of this allowing the buyer to give a larger deposit to the mortgage lender.

This in turn, reduces their loan to value (LTV) ratio, which is the amount you've borrowed from a lender compared to your deposit amount. A lower LTV ratio means you have higher equity in a property, so you're more likely to be offered cheaper mortgage deals.

Users of the scheme can borrow up to 20% of the purchase price of the property from the government.

You must pay off the equity loan within 25 years. The loan is offered on an interest-free basis for the first five years, however, interest will be payable from year six on any outstanding loan amount remaining.

When using a standard mortgage to buy a home, you put down a deposit and borrow the rest from a mortgage lender. With the Help to Buy - Wales scheme, you borrow a chunk from the government, interest-free for five years.

The maximum Help to Buy loan available is 20% of a property of a maximum value of £300,000. You add this loan onto your own 5% deposit, giving more to put down initially on the property. The remainder of the cost of the property is what you’ll need to borrow from a mortgage lender.

This may allow you to afford a more expensive home than you would otherwise be able to, as your loan-to-value ratio is reduced by the government loan.

If you have not repaid the government's equity loan within the first five years (which are interest-free), fees will be charged from the start of Year 6 until the loan is fully repaid. These fees do not reduce the outstanding loan amount itself.

Interest Fees:

• Year 6: You will be charged an annual interest fee of 1.75% on the amount of the original equity loan. This fee is paid monthly.

• Year 7 Onwards: Every April, the interest rate will rise. The annual increase is calculated by adding the increase (if any) in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) plus 1%

Management Fee:

A £1 monthly management fee is payable by Direct Debit from the date the equity loan is completed until it is fully repaid.

Loan Repayment

The full equity loan must be repaid by the earliest of the following:

• When you sell your home.

• When you pay off your main mortgage in full.

• The end of the loan term (usually 25 years).

Repayment Amount:

The amount you repay is linked to the current market value of your home, not the amount you originally borrowed. This means the percentage you borrowed remains the same, but the cash value fluctuates:

Example: If you received a 20% loan on a £200,000 home (£40,000 loan) and the value rises to £300,000 when you repay, you will owe 20% of the new value, which is £60,000. If the value falls, your repayment will also fall.

Partial Repayments (Staircasing):

You can make voluntary part payments to reduce the loan early. Any single part payment must be at least 10% of the current market value of your home at the time of repayment.