Restrictions on movement after purchasing HTB property

Miranda25

Barny1979 said:

As well as being empty and causing insurance issues, would the property be checked for condition etc by a friend during the potential 2 years? As empty properties potentially attract vandalism, damp etc,  that's why the company don't want the house vacant.

Thank you, good point. I did not think about it. 
Then question again: what all other people in the UK do when they purchase property and then in nearest future (can be less than 5 years) they want to relocate somewhere for 1-2 years please? Then I still want to come back to the UK.

Miranda25

Barny1979 said:

As well as being empty and causing insurance issues, would the property be checked for condition etc by a friend during the potential 2 years? As empty properties potentially attract vandalism, damp etc,  that's why the company don't want the house vacant.

It would be a flat not a house. Could it be vandalism even in flats?

davidmcn

Miranda25 said:

Barny1979 said:

As well as being empty and causing insurance issues, would the property be checked for condition etc by a friend during the potential 2 years? As empty properties potentially attract vandalism, damp etc,  that's why the company don't want the house vacant.

what all other people in the UK do when they purchase property and then in nearest future (can be less than 5 years) they want to relocate somewhere for 1-2 years please? Then I still want to come back to the UK.

They either sell it or rent it out. They wouldn't normally just leave it empty.

Miranda25

jon81uk said:

Miranda25 said:

Hi Guys,
Honestly I am shocked. I just received email from resales officer of Moat and she said "You cannot sublet your property and you should not be away from the property for more than 30 days, without discussing with us first."
I can understand restrictions on renting, animals..... I cannot understand at all restrictions on movement. Am I buying a prison? Why should I ask their permission for leaving my flat even for 6 months if I still continue to pay for everything in those flat? Who cares where I am? I might be in East Asia spending winter time there and then coming back to the UK. I might be somewhere outside of UK for work. I might be in another country to care of my old parents. Who cares where I am?
Anybody who has a property via help-to-buy and experienced something like that, please reply this thread. As this would completely change my views on buying property.
Any law regulations around it?
What people you do if you live in HTB property and then you have a good offer to work somewhere abroad for 1-2 years please? 
Many thanks.

Are you sure you are looking at help to buy, not shared ownership?

Help to Buy is an equity loan to purchase a newbuild home.
I think Moat is a housing association and they offer shared ownership homes.
If you have spoken to a resales officer that sounds like it might be shared ownership? I would expect that sort of clause on a shared ownership as you are renting part of the cost from them and they wouldn't want the property to be empty for long periods in case of damage (water leak for example) and they wouldn't allow sublets.

How I understood from communication with different estate agents, they call everything here HTB. That's why I always clarified with them what kind of HTB is that: equity loan or shared ownership. I am looking at both schemes although I know that equity loan is better. And yes, you are right, it was shared ownership flat. I asked a resales officer about movements, did not get a reply yet.
Obviously I have to find out all hidden elements before I do purchase.

Miranda25

GixerKate said:

Miranda25 said:

GixerKate said:

Miranda25 said:

Hi Guys,
Honestly I am shocked. I just received email from resales officer of Moat and she said "You cannot sublet your property and you should not be away from the property for more than 30 days, without discussing with us first."
I can understand restrictions on renting, animals..... I cannot understand at all restrictions on movement. Am I buying a prison? Why should I ask their permission for leaving my flat even for 6 months if I still continue to pay for everything in those flat? Who cares where I am? I might be in East Asia spending winter time there and then coming back to the UK. I might be somewhere outside of UK for work. I might be in another country to care of my old parents. Who cares where I am?
Anybody who has a property via help-to-buy and experienced something like that, please reply this thread. As this would completely change my views on buying property.
Any law regulations around it?
What people you do if you live in HTB property and then you have a good offer to work somewhere abroad for 1-2 years please? 
Many thanks.

Reading this thread and other similar threads you have posted it sounds like you are trying to decide whether to buy a property or continue to rent, as you are looking in and around London you are restricted to using the H2B scheme if you go down the route of buying a property.

A way to look at it, buying a property (especially using H2B) is putting down roots.  The H2B scheme is where they are paying up to 20% (or 40% of the value of the property) for you to help you buy a place that would normally be out of your reach, they essentially own that percentage of the property so will have conditions.  With that assistance (which is interest free for 5 years, you only need to pay £1 a month as a management fee) comes conditions such as it has to be your only place of residence and you can't sublet or leave it empty for long periods of time.

If you want the freedom to move around a lot or go abroad for months at a time perhaps renting would suit you better?  I would suggest that if you want to spend less than 5 years in a property then buying a place using H2B is probably not very suited to you.

Thank you GixerKate,
I am renting now in London and already spent time on trying to understand how HTB works (thank you for all the help on this forume). But I had no idea about restrictions on movement. Is this only for HTB schemes or for all leasehold properties in the UK?
My situation: I am working here but if opportunity is coming to work abroad I really do not want to miss the opportunity. Based on my documents I can only be for 2 years out of the UK and then should be back. I also would like to have my own place here, so what should I do? 

I'm in the process of buying a freehold house using the H2B so can't comment on leasehold considerations.  The 'Help to Buy Buyers' Guide states:
"The property purchased must be your only residence.  Help to Buy is not available to assist buy-to-let investors or those who will own any property other than their Help to Buy Property after completing their purchase.  You cannot rent out your existing home and buy a second home through Help to Buy"

Home insurance typically insists that you don't leave it empty for long periods and the H2B requires you to have buildings insurance in place from completion which is likely where the original statement comes from.

Now say you do purchase a place using H2B and two years down the line you get offered an amazing job opportunity abroad.  You can sell your property and at that time you would have to pay back the H2B equity loan, it would not be the amount you borrowed, it would be the percentage of the current value of the property.  So if you had a H2B equity loan of say, £50,000 and that was 20% of the value of the property at the time you bought the property.  When you sell up you would need to get the property valued and you would need to pay back 20% of the valuation.

I'll just point out now, I am not an expert in the field, I am just someone currently going through the process of buying a new build using H2B so happy to be corrected :-)

GixerKate, may I ask you please as you are going through the process right now:
what did you do in advance before starting viewings? did you get your AIP first? What else? did you find H2B mortgage in advance? another provider of equity loan? do we have to do it in advance or it would be enough time to do it at a later stage?
Thank you:-)

Miranda25

Guys, anybody please tell me:
what did you do in advance before starting viewings? did you get your AIP first? What else? did you find H2B mortgage in advance? another provider of equity loan? do we have to do it in advance (before viewings) or it would be enough time to do it at a later stage?
Thank you:-)

[Deleted User]

With HTB - they almost always have a financial advisor that looks at your figures and gives the nod to the developer or housing association as to whether you financially fit the scheme or not. Then you are allowed to reserve / apply and the DIP and full application can be made. The schemes are very prescriptive regarding affordability. In essence your existing debts, mortgage, equity interest, service charge and ( if shared  ) rental part of the repayments must all be 45% or under of your net income. There are also maximum incomes for shared ownership 

Miranda25

Densol said:

With HTB - they almost always have a financial advisor that looks at your figures and gives the nod to the developer or housing association as to whether you financially fit the scheme or not. Then you are allowed to reserve / apply and the DIP and full application can be made. The schemes are very prescriptive regarding affordability. In essence your existing debts, mortgage, equity interest, service charge and ( if shared  ) rental part of the repayments must all be 45% or under of your net income. There are also maximum incomes for shared ownership 

Thank you. 
A financial adviser already assessed my affordability and I had one viewing but I did not like the flat. Now my thoughts are: if I find a flat which I like and reserve it then would it be enough time to find a mortgage provider, lawyer and organise all paperwork between reservation and completion stages or these is something which people do in advance?
Would it be a different scenario if I decide to go another route and buy a normal property not HTB property? Do I have to find a mortgage provider and prepare any other documents in advance before viewings please? Thank you.

AnotherJoe

Miranda25 said:

My situation: I am working here but if opportunity is coming to work abroad I really do not want to miss the opportunity. Based on my documents I can only be for 2 years out of the UK and then should be back. I also would like to have my own place here, so what should I do? 

I would wait 2 years, i dont think house prices are going anywhere (except perhaps down) in that period, why on earth have the hassles of being a LL abroad, its bad enough being local to the property.

Whats your (seeming) desperate rush to buy now especially since you cant afford it without huge help?

[Deleted User]

Miranda25 said:

Densol said:

With HTB - they almost always have a financial advisor that looks at your figures and gives the nod to the developer or housing association as to whether you financially fit the scheme or not. Then you are allowed to reserve / apply and the DIP and full application can be made. The schemes are very prescriptive regarding affordability. In essence your existing debts, mortgage, equity interest, service charge and ( if shared  ) rental part of the repayments must all be 45% or under of your net income. There are also maximum incomes for shared ownership 

Thank you. 
A financial adviser already assessed my affordability and I had one viewing but I did not like the flat. Now my thoughts are: if I find a flat which I like and reserve it then would it be enough time to find a mortgage provider, lawyer and organise all paperwork between reservation and completion stages or these is something which people do in advance?
Would it be a different scenario if I decide to go another route and buy a normal property not HTB property? Do I have to find a mortgage provider and prepare any other documents in advance before viewings please? Thank you.

If you decide to buy a shared ownership, you need a solicitor specialised in dealing with those purchases are they are a different beast. Have a look on search to buy and they recommend solicitors who know what they are talking about regarding shared ownership