The Intermediary – September 2026 - Flipbook - Page 52
RESIDENTIAL
Opinion
More Help to Buy
remortgages
are coming
T
he Help to Buy Scheme
may have closed to new
applicants years ago,
but that doesn’t mean
advisers saw the last of
it. We are already seeing
increasing numbers of Help to Buy
remortgage cases coming through,
and I expect that direction to continue
over the next year and beyond.
For advisers who wrote significant
volumes of new-build business,
particularly those who worked closely
with developers, this should provide
a very good reason to review their
existing client banks. There will be
Help to Buy borrowers approaching
maturity dates or the end of their
5-year interest-free period who may
not yet appreciate the choices they
need to make, or how different their
next remortgage could be.
Not standard remortgages
One of the biggest mistakes would be
to assume a Help to Buy remortgage
can simply be handled in the same
way as any other refinancing case.
Depending on what the borrower
wants to achieve, there can be
additional requirements involving the
equity loan, valuations, permissions,
documentation and interaction with
Homes England. The borrower might
want to repay the equity loan in full,
part repay through staircasing, or
retain it while changing the mortgage.
Back in 2023, The Guardian reported
on borrowers facing lengthy delays
involving Help to Buy paperwork,
including one case where a mortgage
offer was at risk of expiring.
Dealing with Homes England
is hardly a cake-walk, and there
are still significant difficulties,
particularly around communication,
documentation and the time
required to move certain parts of a
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The Intermediary | September 2026
case forward. Correspondence can
sometimes require telephone chasing,
while Deeds of Postponement can
take eight to 12 weeks to be signed and
sealed, even aer approval has been
given. Insight, experience and starting
the process early are important.
Specialist knowledge
There is a significant difference
between a conveyancing firm being
willing to handle a Help to Buy
remortgage and having a team that
deals with these cases regularly.
Experienced firms know
the process, understand the
documentation required and recognise
where problems are most likely to
arise. Valuations are a good example,
because timing can be crucial. If the
Help to Buy redemption valuation
is carried out too early and expires
before the existing mortgage reaches
completion, the borrower may require
another. If the property’s value has
increased in the meantime, that could
also change the amount required to
redeem the equity loan.
The choice of conveyancer is an
important part of the advice process.
Advisers also benefit from having
access to a panel of firms with
different areas of expertise.
The client bank
Specialist conveyancers still
encounter customers who do not
fully understand the requirements
involved in repaying their Help to Buy
loan, postponing the charge when
remortgaging, or changing the names
of owners on a Help to Buy property.
An adviser who identifies that
position early can do much more than
simply arrange the next mortgage;
they can help the client understand
the wider process and ensure the
appropriate legal support is in place
HARPAL SINGH
is CEO at conveybuddy
from the beginning. The important
point is not simply to search for
approaching mortgage maturity
dates. A borrower reaching the fih
anniversary has another financial
consideration, because interest
payments will begin, regardless of
whether their main mortgage deal
ends at exactly the same time.
They need advice to understand
what is possible and the costs involved.
Starting that conversation early also
gives everyone more time to deal with
the additional legal requirements.
Return of Help to Buy?
Just as increasing numbers of
borrowers begin dealing with the later
stages of the scheme, discussion about
some form of successor is growing.
The Home Builders Federation
has called for further demand-side
support, and has put proposals for a
new scheme to Government. Whether
anything appears in the October
Budget remains speculation, but
the debate is clearly far from over.
I hope one lesson is that the process
aer purchase needs just as much
thought as geing somebody into their
first home.
For advisers, the immediate
opportunity already exists. Increasing
numbers of Help to Buy borrowers
will require advice over the coming
months, and many will also require
conveyancing and legal representation
that goes beyond the straightforward.
Help to Buy might be closed, but
the work created by it is certainly not
disappearing. If anything it is only
going to become a bigger part of the
client conversation. ●
