How to sublet your Help to Buy home
You are not allowed to sublet your home unless your personal circumstances make it difficult to live there.
Applies to England
Making changes to your equity loan or repayment mortgage
Before you make any changes to your equity loan or mortgage, you need to understand how those changes may affect you. You should think about 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 sublet your Help to Buy home.
When you may be allowed to sublet your entire home
When you sublet your entire home, you are letting it all to someone else and you do not live in it.
You’ll only be allowed to sublet your home in specific personal circumstances.
If you need to move temporarily
A temporary move must be due to:
- ill health
- a need to care for a family member
- a change of work location which results in an unreasonable commute from your home
If you’re struggling financially
Subletting may help if you need to move temporarily because you’re struggling due to things like:
- losing your job
- a drop in your household income
- a change of circumstances that leaves you unable to afford your mortgage payments
If your property is affected by unsafe cladding
If your property is affected by unsafe cladding, subletting may help you:
- if you need to move temporarily
- if you’re struggling financially due to additional costs
What you need to send
You’ll need to send us evidence, which should be:
- a letter from your mortgage lender confirming that they will:
- allow you to sublet your entire home
- not change the repayment mortgage to a buy to let mortgage
- a letter from your building or contents insurer saying that they will allow you to sublet your home
- any other information to support your application, we may ask for
If your property is affected by unsafe cladding, you will also need to send one of the following:
- an EWS1 form with a rating of A3 or B2, or evidence this form is not available from your freeholder or management company
- evidence supplied by your freeholder or management company that your property is affected by unsafe cladding
You’ll also have to pay a £50 administration fee.
You’ll also need to send a covering letter explaining why you want to sublet.
If you get permission, it will be valid for 12 months, so you’ll need to tell us what your plans are after that, for example, moving back into your home or asking permission to sublet again.
Having a lodger
You can have one lodger without asking for permission, as long as you, the homeowner:
- live in your home at the same time as the lodger
- do not give the lodger a formal lease or tenancy which would give them an interest in your property
Changing to a buy to let mortgage
You cannot change your repayment mortgage to a buy to let mortgage until you’ve repaid your equity loan in full.
Being told about subletting
Sometimes we’re informed that a Help to Buy home is being sublet.
When this happens, we check the property to find out if an application to sublet has been submitted, or if permission that has already been provided has not expired.
If either of these things has happened, we will not take further action.
If you sublet without permission
Subletting your home without permission means that other agencies or organisations could take action against you.
We’ll contact you within 5 working days from when the report was made to say you have broken the terms of your equity loan.
If you can meet our criteria for subletting, you can then ask for permission.
If we’re not able to contact you, we may use a tracing service to locate you and take further action. You’ll have to pay for this process and any other legal fees.
If you’ve already sublet your home and did not ask for permission, you can apply for permission retrospectively (afterwards) by contacting our Customer Service team.
You’ll need to pay:
- an administration fee of £50
- any costs associated with breaking the rules and subletting without permission
These costs may include things like:
- credit reference searches
- administration costs
- tracing service fees
If you’re refused retrospective permission to sublet
You’ll have 6 months to move back into your home, sell it, or repay your equity loan in full.
We will:
- contact your mortgage lender and let them know
- consider enforcement action and repossession with your mortgage lender
- report it to HMRC
Subletting your home without permission means that other agencies or organisations, like your mortgage lender, may take action against you. This may include being asked to repay the repayment mortgage in full or having your home repossessed.
How to apply to sublet your entire home
Tell us you’d like to sublet your home, and we can give you more information on the process and tell you if you’re eligible.
Email:
[email protected]
When emailing our Customer Service team, please include your account number and a brief summary of your query in your email subject line – for example ‘Sublet’.
Phone:
0300 123 4123
Post:
Help to Buy Customer Service team, PO Box 5262, Lancing, BN99 9HE
Our Customer Service team is available 8am-8pm and Saturday, 9am-1pm (excluding UK public holidays).
If you’re eligible to sublet
If you’re allowed to sublet, you’ll need to:
- get your evidence documents ready to send to us
- get your covering letter ready with your reasons why you need to sublet and your plans after 12 months
- pay an administration fee of £50. We’ll tell you how you can pay this when you contact us
You can then send us all the documents by post or email using the contact details above.
Giving you a decision
You’ll be told after 5 working days if you can sublet your home.
The decision will be either you’re:
- allowed to sublet
- not allowed to sublet
- not given permission to sublet
A record of the decision will be recorded on your equity loan account.
If you’re given permission
After 12 months you must either:
- move back into your home
- ask for permission to sublet your entire home again
- repay your equity loan in full
We’ll contact you 2 months before this date and ask you when you’ll move back in, or if you want to ask to sublet again.
You’ll need to ask for permission at least 1 month before the sublet period ends to be able to sublet again after this time.
If you’re not given permission
You’ll be told why you were not given permission.
If you still decide to sublet your home without permission, we will:
- give you 6 months to move back in or sell your home
- contact your mortgage lender and let them know
- consider enforcement action and repossession with your mortgage lender
- report it to HMRC
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Updates to this page
Published 5 May 2021Last updated 28 September 2023 + show all updates
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Amended to provide clarity to Help to Buy customers about the criteria need for subletting to be approved
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Clarified guidance about the EWS1 form in the 'What you need to send' section.
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Added section to reflect change in Homes England policy regarding cladding.
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Updated to make the separation between Homes England and the equity loan administrator clearer.
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First published.