Help to Buy Redemption

landghove

ccbrowning said:

The whole redemption process was fast here and we had no real issues.

The only issue, imho, was the RICS valuation was rubbish and too high. We have been trying to sell our house for that amount and aren’t even getting any offers.

Is the RICS valuation based on recently sold houses of a similar style in the area?

HALI123

Cyruson said:

We sent the valuation, paperwork and admin fee to Target on the 18th November. We received the redemption certificate only a few days ago. Four weeks is really not good. Our solicitor has forwarded the paperwork on to the mortgage company and their legal team. We are now coming into Xmas with all the hold ups that will bring. Our valuation will expire on the 15th feb, let’s hope that’s enough time to get it sorted. The expenses are stacking up already without adding valuation extensions. The stress of this is really getting to much and I will never recommend the H2B to anyone.

Hi, Can i ask how did it go?
Target should be sending Authority to complete in 15 days? 

WatermelonMot

I went through this process last year and wanted to share my experience.

Bottomline is everything took much longer than I’d have thought, due to bad processes on Target’s side. I had a leasehold property (flat) and it was valued at a very low price compared to what I bought it for. Nevertheless it went for a bit more but still under the original price.

After accepting an offer I submitted all the required documentation to Target straight away and this is where the problems started. I’m used to bureaucracy so gave them a few weeks, phoned them after 3 weeks and turned out nobody even bothered to look into my email. At this point it’s worth mentioning, as others said, every single phone call to Target is agony, the queues are huge and you have to wait for about 40-50 minutes normally, on one occasion I waited 1h15m until my call was answered. I must have spent around 10 hours waiting for them to answer calls from me, in a few months.

To add, the process outlined on the government website is not accurate, there are more information and documents one needs to provide Target with and there are other steps to the process that they omit on that website.

After several calls I managed to find out that because the selling price was over 10% lower than the original price, it had to go to their Legal team for sign off. Fair play, whatever the process. However, the poor customer service call handlers don’t have any direct contact with this department. All they can do is check for an update when one calls in, but if there’s no update there’s no way for them to chase it up.

At the same time there was also an issue with queries around cladding. For the record, there was NO cladding issue in the block, but the management company always had very shady behaviour and they refused to provide a letter that clearly states there are no potential cladding issues. Therefore I had to provide fire safety assessments to Target. This took another few weeks for Target to go through and confirm they’re happy with it. I also had to contact the building’s management company several times who were generally unhelpful and mostly useless - more agony.

In the meantime, luckily there was no chain so both me and the buyer were happy to wait a bit. However the delay was becoming ridiculous and 2.5 months after submitting all required documents to Target they still haven’t approved the sale. I was calling daily at this point and even the estate agent started to apply pressure. As I was beginning to give up all hope, as if by magic the sale has been approved and the solicitors were able to go ahead arranging the exchange and completion. So instead of the 5 day process as per the documentation, it took me nearly 3 months.

After this there was just one minor hiccup, I was keen to make sure Target gave me a letter confirming that I’ve paid them back and owe nothing more after the completion of the sale. Unsurprisingly they didn’t proactively do this until I have prompted them. Having said that, once I’ve asked for it, they produced the letter quite quickly.

What baffled me is that if they approve these loans in the first place, how come they need to sit on it for so long when it comes to selling a place. Inevitably a once new-build flat will go for less money when sold a few years later. Did they not consider this before starting this scheme?

My experience was that it’s a draining, stressful process and you have to stay on top of it every single day. Keep the end goal in mind at all times and you will get there. Also I feel sorry for the Target call centre team as they have so little control of everything and yet they’re at the forefront of all disappointed customer’s emotions - be kind to them.

kingstreet

"What baffled me is that if they approve these loans in the first place, how come they need to sit on it for so long when it comes to selling a place..."

Target is post-sale only. The original loans were granted by BPHA, Radian, Orbit, Catalyst etc the original HTB Agents. Don't forget Target is probably the lowest bidder for what is effectively a Government contract.