About Help to Buy schemes

As a Help to Buy agent, we help to deliver two government affordable home ownership schemes:

• Help to Buy: Equity Loan
• Shared Ownership

These government schemes are designed to make it more affordable for people to own their own homes.

Help to Buy: Equity Loan

This is a government scheme for first-time buyers. It provides a loan, called an equity loan, that you put towards the cost of buying a new build.

Help to Buy aims to help first-time buyers to get on the property ladder. If you’re eligible for an equity loan, you can borrow up to 20% (40% if you’re in London) of the market value of a new build

During the term of the equity loan you only pay interest on the amount you borrowed. You do not pay off any of the loan itself. But you can choose to pay all or part of it off at any time. If you sell your home, you will need to pay off all of your equity loan.

You can only apply for an equity loan if you reserve a new build from any of the homebuilders registered with the Help to Buy scheme (registered homebuilders).

Help to Buy (2021-2023) ends on 31 March 2023. Find out more about the closure of the scheme in our FAQs

Learn more about Help to Buy: Equity Loan

Shared ownership

Shared ownership helps you to buy a home if you cannot afford all of the deposit and mortgage
payments for a home that meets your needs. You buy a share between 10% and 75% of the home’s full market value, and pay rent on the remaining share.

Most shared ownership homes require an initial share purchase between 25% and 75%. When homes are available for sale under the new model for shared ownership, shares will be available from 10%. A limited number of these homes will be available in 2021. More will become available from 2022 onwards.

Learn more about shared ownership

Please remember, your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or other loans secured against it.