How to remortgage your Help to Buy home and borrow more money
When you need permission to remortgage, how your lenders are involved, what documents you’ll need and how to apply.
Applies to England
Making changes to your equity loan or mortgage
Before you make any changes to your equity loan or repayment mortgage, you need to understand how those changes may affect you. You should consider getting independent financial and legal advice.
You need to keep paying your management fee, and monthly interest if this is due, until you repay your equity loan in full.
You’ll need to settle any outstanding payments, or set up a payment plan by contacting our Customer Service team, before you can remortgage and borrow more money.
When you can remortgage and borrow more money
If you want to remortgage and borrow more (also called additional borrowing), you will need permission from us.
We’ll only allow you to remortgage and borrow more money:
- to pay back part or all of your equity loan
- to make structural alterations when you have permission
- to fund a transfer of equity (change who owns your home)
We may allow you to borrow more on your repayment mortgage to pay off leasehold arrears or mortgage arrears - we’ll consider each request individually.
You can either remortgage with your existing lender or change to a new one.
If you’re in negative equity
You are in negative equity when your home’s current value is less than the total of what you owe on your repayment mortgage and equity loan.
If you’re in negative equity, you cannot remortgage and borrow more money. Your property valuation will show if you are in negative equity.
What you’ll need before you apply for permission
Before you apply for permission to remortgage you’ll need to contact your current mortgage lender to get a redemption (or repayment) statement.
This confirms the total amount you need to repay to your mortgage lender, and that the total on your repayment mortgage has not increased.
The statement must be less than 12 working days old when we receive it as part of the application process. If it’s older than this, you’ll need to get a new one.
Check your new lender is qualified
Your new mortgage lender must be:
- a qualifying lending institution
- authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
This is likely to include most banks and building societies. Your conveyancer can confirm this.
Ask for a breakdown of your lender’s charges
Your current or new lender may charge you fees to remortgage and move to a different product or rate.
Ask for a breakdown of their fees, and check that they are not more than £2000. If they are, we might not permit you to remortgage with this lender. Contact our Customer Service team to check.
Find a conveyancer
We will need your conveyancer’s details on the application form.
You can either:
- find a conveyancer on the Law Society’s website or the Council of Licensed Conveyancers’ website.
- ask your lender if they can instruct their own conveyancer to act for both of you
Let your conveyancer know how much of your equity loan you want to repay, as a percentage and a number. You will know the number after getting your surveyor’s valuation report.
The total amount of equity loan you repay is worked out based on the market value of your property and equity loan percentage amount at the time you choose to repay.
Pay any arrears
If you are behind with your equity loan payments you cannot remortgage.
Make sure you pay off anything you owe in full, or contact our Customer Service team to set up a payment plan.
Get a surveyor’s valuation on your home
We need to know the market value of your home so we can check your Loan to Value ratio (LTV). This to confirm you can afford the new repayments in the long term when you borrow more.
Find out your loan to value ratio
Loan to value is the difference between the value of your home and the amount of money you’re borrowing to pay for it. This is shown as a percentage.
The percentage you borrow is based on the market value of your new home when you buy it.
Your loan to value limit
Your loan to value normally cannot be more than 75% of the value of your home, unless you’re repaying part of your equity loan.
| Equity Mortgage Percentage Share | Maximum LTV Limit |
|---|---|
| 10% | 85% |
| 20% | 75% |
| 30% | 65% |
| 40% | 55% |
If your home is in London, your limit will be:
- 55%, if we contributed 40% as part of the equity loan
- 65%, if we contributed 30% from the equity loan
Example
Your home is valued at £200,000.
Your repayment mortgage is £140,000
Your loan to value ratio is 70% (140,000 divided by 200,000 and then multiplied by 100), which is below the loan to value limit of 75%.
If you wanted to remortgage and borrow more, your loan to value amount would be acceptable (as long as the additional borrowing did not take the LTV over 75%).
How to get a surveyors valuation report
Before you contact a surveyor, you must tell us about anything that may affect the value of your home as they may need to agree which surveyor you can use.
This could be things like:
- external cladding
- any breaches of planning permission
- building regulations that have an impact on your property’s value (for example, a conservatory that you did not get a building control certificate for)
If your property is affected by external cladding
If your block of flats has certain types of external cladding, you may need a specialist valuation on your property.
How the report should be made
You’ll need to:
- send our Customer Service team a RICS valuation report for your property, so we can work out how much you need to repay
- pay for the report yourself
The report must be:
- signed and dated by the RICS certified surveyor who did the survey. Find a RICS surveyor in your area.
- on headed paper addressed to Homes England
- supplied as a PDF file or a digital document that you cannot edit
We cannot accept valuations that are made for bank or mortgage purposes.
Our criteria for the surveyor
You should give the surveyor making the valuation a copy of these criteria.
They must:
- be both RICS qualified and registered
- be a RICS member or fellow (MRICS or FRICS) - if you have Help to Buy: Equity Loan (2021-2023)
- be independent of any estate agent
- not be related or known to you
- inspect the inside of the property
- provide at least 3 comparable properties and sale prices within the last 12 months - they must be like-for-like homes in type, size, age and within 2 miles of the property that is being inspected
- provide bespoke market commentary and reference how the comparable properties provided justify the determination of market value
The report is valid for 3 months from the date it was produced.
We need to receive the valuation within 5 working days of the date it was issued. Please send by either email or post to:
Email:
[email protected]
When emailing our Customer Service team, please include your account number and a brief summary of your query – for example ‘Valuation’ – in your email subject line.
Post: Help to Buy Customer Service team, PO Box 5262, Lancing, BN99 9HE
If the report expires
If the valuation report expires before you repay your equity loan, we’ll need a ‘desktop valuation’ which will extend the original valuation by 3 months.
This letter must be:
- from the same RICS surveyor who made the valuation
- provided on the company’s headed paper and as a PDF or another digital format that you cannot edit
If you do not complete the repayment process in the additional 3 months, you’ll need to provide a new valuation report.
If your valuation report is due to expire, we’ll write to you and ask you to get a desktop valuation.
Getting a desktop valuation report
The RICS firm who did the original valuation can supply a desktop valuation report without visiting the property in person.
They must:
- refer to the original valuation report
- confirm the updated report is a desktop valuation
- provide at least 6 comparable properties and sale prices from the last year if the property has increased or decreased in value. If 6 are not available, they must state this clearly.
- provide bespoke market commentary and reference how the comparable properties provided justify the determination of market value
The report must be:
- made within 2 weeks of the expiry date of the original valuation report
- completed, signed and dated by the same RICS surveyor
- made on the company’s headed paper and also in PDF or another digital format that you cannot edit
This valuation is valid for 3 months from the date it is produced.
We need to receive the valuation within 5 working days of the date it was issued.
If we reject the report
You must make sure your surveyor carries out the valuation in the way we’ve asked for it.
We may reject the valuation report if it:
- does not follow the instructions
- is too high or low compared to similar properties
If we reject the report, you’ll need to provide and pay for a new report.
If you do not agree with the new valuation
Under the terms of your equity loan agreement the President of RICS will appoint a RICS surveyor to produce a final valuation.
How to apply to remortgage
Follow these steps if you want to remortgage with a new lender and borrow more money.
1. Decide what percentage of your equity loan you are repaying
You can repay all or part of your equity loan. Any part payment must be at least 10% of the market value of your home. You cannot leave less than 5% of the market value amount to repay.
2. Get your paperwork ready
To apply for permission to remortgage you’ll need to:
- get a repayment mortgage redemption statement from your mortgage lender
- contact your current mortgage lender to get a redemption (or repayment) statement. This confirms the total amount you need to repay, and that the total on your repayment mortgage has not increased.
The statement must be less than 12 working days old when we receive it. If it’s older than this, you’ll need to get a new one.
3. Complete the application form
Complete the application form.
You’ll need:
- your equity loan account number
- the remortgage amount
- your conveyancer’s and mortgage broker’s details
- a copy of your new mortgage offer
If the repayment mortgage is in joint names, you’ll both need to sign the application form.
4. Send your paperwork and application form
Send our Customer Service team everything by email or post using the contact details below.
Customer Service team
Email:
[email protected]
Post:
Help to Buy customer services, PO Box 5262, Lancing, BN99 9HE
Phone:
0300 123 4123
5. Pay the administration fee
The fee is £115 if you want to:
- remortgage only
- remortgage and transfer equity (change ownership of your home)
- remortgage to make structural alterations
The fee is £200 if you want to remortgage and repay all or part of your equity loan.
You can pay this by:
- online transfer
- debit card by calling 0300 123 4123
- cheque
You must tell our Customer Service team on the number or email above if you’ve paid online so they can confirm it on your customer account.
When emailing our Customer Service team, please include your account number and a brief summary of your query – for example ‘Payment’ – in your email subject line.
Payment details
Bank name:
Lloyds Bank PLC
Account name:
EQGATEWAY RE HE HELP TO BUY ADMIN
Sort code:
30-80-12
Account number:
24501860
Reference:
Your customer reference number or first line of your address and postcode
We cannot progress your application unless we’ve received this payment.
6. Getting a decision
Our Customer Service team will let you know the decision on your application by email or letter after receiving all of your documents.
From the information you send, we’ll record:
- how much you want to borrow
- your conveyancer’s details
- your loan to value limit
If your application is accepted or declined
If your application is accepted and we give you permission to remortgage and borrow more, we will contact you by email and explain the next steps.
This permission is valid for 6 months from the date it is issued. If you do not complete your remortgage within this time you may have to repeat the application process.
If your application is declined, we will contact you by email to explain the decision.
Complete the remortgaging process
Your conveyancer helps you complete your remortgage.
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If your application is accepted, we send your conveyancer an ‘Authority to Proceed’ document.
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Your conveyancer prepares a Deed of Postponement, which we need to agree to, along with your mortgage lender. This is a legal document that ensures your new repayment mortgage is the first charge on your home. Your equity loan is the second charge on your home.
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We’ll check the Deed of Postponement, send it back to your conveyancer and record the new mortgage details on your Help to Buy account.
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Within 5 working days of completing, your conveyancer sends us written notification that the remortgage has completed, and a certified copy of the Deed of Postponement.
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Updates to this page
Published 5 May 2021Last updated 4 February 2022 + show all updates
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Updated to make the separation between Homes England and the equity loan administrator clearer.
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Added a link to the cladding guidance for Help to Buy homes.
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First published.