London Help to Buy Equity Loan - can the Help To Buy Agent turn you down?

Mark1_01

Hello! I'm planning on applying for a London Help to Buy Equity Loan - and I was wondering whether anyone had an experience being turned down on their Equity Loan by the London Help To Buy Agent?


I just wanted to understand if this is a risk, and when they might do this, and how I can avoid this!


Thanks for any help!

kingstreet

You have to meet the affordability requirements, not exceed the maximum term etc. so yes, you could be declined the amount you wish to borrow or the period over which you want to have your mortgage.

Mark1_01

Thanks! But specifically, I meant can they turn you down because they feel that you 'don't need it'.


Someone I know was claiming that they were told that they would not get Help to Buy equity loan as they could afford to buy without it?

mleach101

I think technically they reserve the right to do so as there may be a limited fund available that they want to use to assist as many people as possible. As for how often it happens I don't know. It's stage-1 of any purchase process so *if* they say know it happens before you've made any significant commitments, usually the only thing at risk is a portion of the reservation fee (in my case using non-London HTB it was £150 or thereabouts).

Certainly neither my builder nor my broker had any concerns though I was only putting up 9% of sale price with 20% from HTB.

kingstreet

We don't cover London, but we have done dozens of HTB Equity Loan cases in three other HTB Agent areas (South, South East & Midlands) and provided the minimum mortgage (25%) is taken, there should be no issue with the Equity Loan being approved.

Mark1_01

Did they give a reason for saying no? Was it because they thought you didn't need it?