Forces Help to Buy Scheme

CAT70 · 6 October 2018 at 8:45PM

Good evening.

We were hoping to use the Forces Help to Buy Scheme next year when my husband leaves the army after 23 years service. We have been advised this week by the AFF (Army Families Federation) that the MoD have announced that the scheme is to be discontinued after the extended date of 31st December 2018. Does anyone know why this decision has been made and whether anything will replace it?

The scheme was meant to encourage people to buy especially with FAM (the new military housing model) being piloted and introduced. I have contacted Gavin Williamson MP but as yet have received no reply from his team.

Any help would be appreciated.

Silvertabby · 7 October 2018 at 2:01PM

FORCES HELP TO BUY Policy information current as at 05 February 2018
The Forces Help To Buy Scheme (FHTB) was launched on 1 April 2014 as a three year pilot scheme, and has now been extended to the end of December, 2018.
FHTB enables Service personnel to borrow by way of an advance, up to half their annual salary (up to a maximum of £25,000) and is intended to assist towards the balance of the purchase price (taking into account, for example, deposit, legal, surveyors, land registration and estate agent fees) when buying a property for which a mortgage lender is willing to advance a mortgage. Whilst this handout provides an overview of the FHTB scheme, any personnel looking to utilise FHTB should familiarise themselves fully with JSP 464 Part 1 Chapter 12 where full details of the eligibility and qualifying criteria can be found.
Most mainstream mortgage providers are supporting Service Personnel by offering mortgage products in conjunction with FHTB. There are some exceptions, so it is always best to check BEFORE applying for a mortgage. You can do this by looking on their websites, asking in their branches or by phoning them. Alternatively, if you are planning to use a mortgage broker make sure you disclose the use of FHTB at the outset and that they subsequently inform potential mortgage providers.
General
The FHTB scheme is primarily designed for first-time buyers or those needing to move to another property, either because they are assigned elsewhere or as a result of certain extenuating family or medical circumstances. A property for which FHTB has been claimed must be intended for the Service person’s own immediate occupation, or that of their immediate family. An exception to this applies to those in overseas postings at the time of application and purchase. It is not intended for the purchase of ‘buy-to-let’ properties or any other second property, but under certain circumstances can be used to extend or modify an existing property.
FHTB is not related to other Government funded Help to Buy schemes but can be used in conjunction with the Government’s Help to Buy Schemes (Equity Loan and Shared Ownership), Help to Buy (Scotland) and Help to Buy (Wales).
Entitlement
Applicants who meet all the applicable eligibility and qualifying criteria within JSP 464 will be permitted an interest free FHTB advance recoverable from pay and, if necessary, terminal benefits. The amount of the FHTB approved will be limited to either 50% of gross basic pay including all forms of Recruitment and Retention pay, but not allowances; or £25,000, whichever is lower

Can't find any mention of any new scheme yet. However, to be fair, this current scheme is more for the benefit of those who remain in Service and repay the interest free advance over a number of years. By taking the advance just before your husband retires means that almost the whole advance would be recovered almost immediately from his terminal benefits. Would it be possible to jiggle your purchase plans until after he retires, and has received his pension lump sum?

I don't know if the rules have changed since I retired, but it used to be the case that you could retain your married quarter for up to 3 months after discharge (albeit at a higher rent) if you couldn't occupy a new property straight away.

CAT70 · 8 October 2018 at 9:11AM

Many thanks for the reply. We are aware of how the scheme works but just wondered why it is not being extended further beyond this date. It has been assumed by widely by the AFF and tri forces that it would be further extended. It has come as a shock to many people.
Sadly we have not been in a position to purchase before now as this last posting is closest we have been to our area of preferred resettlement for 10 years. We would prefer not to go into rental.
Really appreciate your advice and ideas. Thank you.

Silvertabby · 8 October 2018 at 12:44PM

CAT70 wrote: »

Many thanks for the reply. We are aware of how the scheme works but just wondered why it is not being extended further beyond this date. It has been assumed by widely by the AFF and tri forces that it would be further extended. It has come as a shock to many people.
Sadly we have not been in a position to purchase before now as this last posting is closest we have been to our area of preferred resettlement for 10 years. We would prefer not to go into rental.
Really appreciate your advice and ideas. Thank you.

It may well be extended - or replaced with another version. During my time in uniform, the powers-that-be were notorious for leaving regulation changes etc until the very last minute - and I doubt things have changed for the better!

Hope things work out for you, and my best wishes to you both on your husband's retirement.

Merlin139 · 13 October 2018 at 8:20AM

Just seen a post on Facebook on the AGC(SPS) Military Personnel Administrators (Mil Pers Admin) closed group.

The question was asked about a month ago and passed up the chain. Answer was no update ends in December.

Choccygirl123 · 3 December 2018 at 3:52PM

They've announced it'll be extended until 2019 now.

Forces Help to Buy Scheme

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