Help to Buy - New Homes Mortgage Helpline

bobbymooreok

Dear all,

I am in the process of buying a 2 bed flat and have read a couple of horror stories about the 'New Homes Mortgage Helpline'. The new development is being built by Bellway and they insist I have to go through them to proceed. From what I have read, it is worth getting them in, seeing what they have to offer but I am fully entitled to proceed with my own mortgage provider?

Also, they state I need to increase my deposit by £2000 and that the term will increase to 26 years. If I knew they truly weren't trying to flog services my way then I would be inclined to believe them but seeing as they are working directly with Bellway (who my deposit will be sitting with) it all seems to be a bit of a con. IS ANYONE AWARE OF ANY SPECIAL CRITERIA FOR HELP TO BUY IN TERMS OF AMOUNT BEING BORROWED? I have gone to two mortgage lenders directly and have MIP's for both. Also when speaking to NHMH they say I passed the affordability checks but not the help to buy criteria. They state something to do with the debt to something ratio but this is even before they have tested the market themselves for mortgage rates!!

Secondly, my solicitor has worked with Help to Buy before. He is charging some money for the Help to Buy 'legal side' which seems pretty common however, who submits my application? Bellway have stated to me that it is NHMH and that is why I have to use them. Can my solicitor do this? Should I do this?

Any experiences / comments will be much appreciated

kingstreet

Right. You have two issues.

Issue one - your chosen lender has an affordability calculator which determines what you can borrow. For Halifax, Woolwich and NatWest that's 5x gross annual income. Less for Nationwide.

Issue two - the HCA HomeBuy Agent has a calculator (PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy!) which determines your equity loan, based on 4.5x gross annual income, a rate of 4.8% and your debt to income ratio must not exceed 45%).

You should use a HCA HomeBuy Agent approved broker. We're on the Orbit list. Which list is NHMH on?

okborednow

Just to add my bit to the excellent advice from Kingstreet we're currently buying with Barratt homes and they strongly suggested but didn't insist on us using their recommended broker and solicitor. Their view was they knew these companies would get things done on time and that they would keep Barratts in the loop. When there were delays over the usual 28 day exchange we were really worried but Barratt assured us because we had done everything we'd been asked to by them and used their people they were happy to wait. I understand why people are wary but these recommendations aren't always for sinister/profiteering reasons.

darley.wood

Hi,

We are currently looking to buy with Bellway at a development near us and of course they 'suggested' the New Homes Mortgage helpline etc.

I gave them a call as it was early days for us and I felt like I was being directed to a call centre made for churning out people to work at carphone warehouse. I did not spend long talking to them and they did not appear to be interested in speaking to me unless I was signing up there and then over the phone.

When we went back to Bellway they asked if I had spoken to them and I said yes and felt their customer service was shocking. The sales person gave me a direct number to an IFA in a brokerage locally to me, saying thats who theyve had a few recent exchanges through that come via NHMH. Basically - the NHMH is a callcentre and not much more - they will check your details and then THEY send it to the local brokerage/mortgage company who also then deal with Help to Buy mortgages for your area. Each area will have one or two 'agents' that handle the Help to Buy side, these are usually IFAs elected by the local housing scheme to approve/submit your HTB application.

It is handy to have everything in one house for you with Bellway and NHMH working together, but ultimately they are still relaying on someone else externally with the HTB links. My IFA for example, being the local HTB agent knows the new build development well and will handle both parts for us anyways and is happy to talk to Bellway (or any other developer in the area if we pull out) on our behalf.

I didnt feel that the Bellway staff were hard selling to me and they just said they'd tell head office what I said as when we go forward 'they're bound to ask why you havent gone through them'.

kingstreet

Your IFA is not the local HTB agent, that is the body contracted by the Government to administer the HTB scheme through the Homes & Communities Agency.

These depend on where in the country you are, but the full list can be found in the back of the Help To Buy - Buyer's Guide;-

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/our-work/help_to_buy_buyers_guide_sept_2013.pdf

They are Orbit, Catalyst, Metropolitan, Plumlife etc and are known as the HomeBuy Agent. The HomeBuy Agent may have a panel of independent mortgage advisors as I mentioned earlier (post #2).

As such a firm, we take the Property Information Form and Reservation from the builder, check/complete it and pass it to the HomeBuy Agent, who issues the Authority To Proceed and later approvals.

darley.wood

Thanks for clarifying - I dont claim to be any expert but from what's been explained to me - it helped me a lot to understand I didnt feel any loyalty or extra help/position to go with NHMH.

You can use whoever you like irregardless of what Bellway say - just know you have to pass local HTB scheme agents and then get a mortgage so if you can find someone who deals with both together that would be easier. Advice from an IFA can be very helpful as they hold no loyalty to particular developers, lenders or solicitors.