How to repay your equity loan using your own money
The process to repay all or part of your Help to Buy: Equity Loan, using your own money or other private funds.
Applies to England
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Making changes to your equity loan
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 advice.
You need to keep paying your management fee, and monthly interest if this is due, until you repay your equity loan.
You’ll need to settle any outstanding payments in full or ask our Customer Service team to set up a payment plan, before making any changes to your equity loan.
How much you need to repay
We work out the equity loan amount you need to repay based on the market value of your home at the time you choose to repay.
This is set by a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) valuation.
If you are paying monthly interest or management fees, you should keep making these payments.
You’ll need to settle any outstanding payments in full or set up a payment plan with our Customer Service team, before you can repay.
The amount you repay includes interest, fees and any outstanding payments, or arrears. You must repay all of these in full to complete the repayment process.
Follow these steps to repay your equity loan.
1. Get a surveyor’s valuation report
Before you contact a surveyor, you must tell us about anything that may affect the value of your home as we may need to agree which RICS 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 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 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 - they must be like-for-like properties in type, size, age and within 2 miles of the property that is being inspected.
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 it to:
Email: customerservices@myhelptobuyloan.co.uk
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.
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.
2. Confirm where your money is coming from
If you’re planning to use your own money, like inheritance or savings, to repay your equity loan, you need to confirm where this has come from.
For example, a copy of a bank statement showing the money.
You must also have the money available to repay any fees, charges or outstanding missed payments (arrears).
3. Decide what percentage of your equity loan you are repaying
You can repay all or some of your equity loan at any time. You can make part payments of at least 10% of the full repayment amount, based on what your home is worth at the time, to reduce how much you owe.
4. Find a conveyancing solicitor
You must instruct a conveyancer to carry out the various legal processes that are required.
You can find a conveyancing solicitor on the Law Society’s website.
5. Complete the repayment application form
Complete and return the equity loan repayment application form, with your evidence documents showing where your money is coming from.
Send them by either email or post to:
Email customerservices@myhelptobuyloan.co.uk
Post: Help to Buy Customer Service team, PO Box 5262, Lancing, BN99 9HE
You must provide your conveyancer’s contact details and give the conveyancer authority to act on your behalf.
6. Pay the administration fee and any arrears
You’ll need to pay an administration fee of £200 when you apply to repay your equity loan.
You’ll also have to clear any arrears or outstanding payments.
If you cannot clear your arrears, you may be able to:
- continue to apply if you agree to a payment plan
- clear the arrears at the same time you repay your equity loan
Your conveyancer will need to confirm if this is possible.
How to pay
You can pay by:
- online bank transfer
- debit card by calling 0300 123 4123
- cheque
You can pay online. Email customerservices@myhelptobuyloan.co.uk or call the number above to confirm.
Our Customer Service team is available 9.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (excluding UK public holidays).
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.
7. Receive a redemption letter
We’ll send you and your conveyancer a redemption (repayment) letter after you’ve sent us:
- the RICS valuation report
- your completed application form
- the administration fee and any arrears
The letter will confirm:
- that you can repay your equity loan
- the percentage of equity loan you took out
- how much your repayment amount will be, based on the valuation report
The repayment amount will include any outstanding interest, fees and arrears.
Legal undertaking agreement
We’ll send your conveyancer a list of items they need to put into a ‘legal undertaking’. This is a legal agreement formalised in paperwork.
If the completion date on the undertaking is delayed by more than a week, we may need to supply a new repayment amount and undertaking.
We will not grant an ‘Authority to Complete’ (a form giving you permission to complete your sale and repay your equity loan) until you have repaid everything you owe, or a payment plan is agreed.
Repay your equity loan
We will send the ‘Authority to Complete’ within 5 days of receiving the legal undertaking from your conveyancer (or when a payment plan has been agreed).
This means you can repay all or part of your equity loan and complete the repayment process.
If you’re repaying part of your equity loan, there are some extra steps to take before we can send you an ‘Authority to Complete’. Our Customer Service team will explain this to you.
Completing the process
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Your conveyancer transfers the funds to repay your equity loan. The total amount will include any interest, charges, administration fees and arrears that you owe.
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Your conveyancer sends you the relevant completion documents.
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When we receive the funds, we’ll check that the amount matches the figures on the Authority to Complete and inform your conveyancer.
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Your conveyancer will certify this and send you a ‘completion statement’ on headed paper.
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Once you’ve fully repaid your equity loan and other costs, we’ll apply to the Land Registry to remove the charge on your property.
If you’re paying monthly interest and management fees, you should keep making these payments until the process is complete.
Last updated 23 November 2023 + show all updates
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Guide has been updated to encourage customers to complete an application form before paying an administration fee.
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Contact details updated.
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Updates throughout to clarify the role of Homes England's equity loan administrator.
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Added a link to the cladding guidance for Help to Buy homes.
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First published.