Found a Potential House - Help to Buy

sugarcube84

I've found a house in the area we like that seems to suit us the only thing is it's a new build...we have been told by the estate agents that the Help to Buy scheme is available. One of my colleagues is buying a house through this at the moment but he is buying with a big housebuilder and has gone through their broker.


So my question is how do you go about applying for a help to buy mortgage?

kingstreet

Establish the lenders offering HTB Equity Loan products. Conduct affordability calculations. If it isn't specifically mentioned, assume 3% of the Equity Loan as a cost in affordability.

Get the Government's HTB Affordability calculator and ensure what you want to do will be permitted.

Get illustrations so you can see what rates/costs are like.

Get an agreement in principle and that puts you in a position to reserve.

When you reserve, you need to submit your Property Information Form and Reservation to your area HTB Agent for approval of the equity loan, then you can apply for your mortgage.

Be careful of the build timetable as some mortgage offers last only six months.

A typical independent mortgage broker can do this for you, including sourcing the best product from those taking part in the scheme and will liaise with you, the builder and solicitor.

sugarcube84

Thanks for you help, Have you got a link to the Government's HTB Affordability calculator ??


Honestly do you think i'm best going through a broker?

kingstreet

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-to-buy-equity-loan-calculator-and-guidance

If you don't feel confident doing this yourself, get help and get it done properly.

john987

Going through the HTB process at moment. I'd say go through a broker that knows about HTB. Ours sorted all the forms out for us and advised on the affordability criteria.

Initially tried going direct but quickly found out the bank knew nothing about how the HTB process worked.

You need to be aware that the HTB criteria is different from the banks and capped at 4.5x income and a debt to income ratio of 45%.

andyf1980

john987 wrote: »

Going through the HTB process at moment. I'd say go through a broker that knows about HTB. Ours sorted all the forms out for us and advised on the affordability criteria.

Initially tried going direct but quickly found out the bank knew nothing about how the HTB process worked.

You need to be aware that the HTB criteria is different from the banks and capped at 4.5x income and a debt to income ratio of 45%.

What he said. Our experience was the same.

sugarcube84

That's great thanks for your help, I've run my numbers through the calculator and it's easily affordable (2.5ish) so I just need to find a broker now.