Help to Buy Valuations: A Guide

How much you repay

A Help to Buy equity loan is a percentage of your home's value, not a fixed sum. You repay the same percentage of the market value at the time you repay. If your home has gone up in value, you repay more than you borrowed; if it has gone down, you repay less.

For example, if you borrowed 20% of a £200,000 purchase price and your home is now valued at £220,000, repaying 10% costs £22,000. The remaining 10% is then repaid later, at the value at that time.

Interest is charged on the equity loan from the fifth anniversary of taking it out, which is why many people repay around then.

When you need a valuation

• Repaying in full from your own money or savings.
• Repaying part of the loan. The smallest part repayment is 10% of the market value, and you can't leave less than 5% outstanding.
• Remortgaging to repay all or part of the loan.
• Selling your home. You repay your percentage of the market value or the sale price, whichever is higher.

What the valuation must include

Homes England sets the requirements. The surveyor must be:

• RICS qualified and registered (a member or fellow, MRICS or FRICS, for loans under the 2021 to 2023 scheme);
• independent of any estate agent, and not related to or known to you.

The report must:

• follow an inspection of the inside of your home;
• use at least three comparable sales of similar homes (type, size and age) from the last 12 months, within 2 miles;
• explain how those sales support the valuation;
• be on headed paper, signed, dated and addressed to Homes England, and supplied as a PDF.

Homes England can reject a report that doesn't meet these requirements, or that seems too high or too low compared with similar homes, and a new valuation would then be needed.

How long the valuation lasts

The valuation is valid for three months from the date of the report, and should be sent to Homes England within five days. If your repayment hasn't completed in time, the same surveyor can extend it by a further three months with a desktop valuation, which must be requested within two weeks of the original expiry date.

Step by step

1. Instruct a chartered surveyor who meets the requirements above.
2. Apply to repay through GOV.UK, sending the valuation report.
3. If you're selling or remortgaging, your solicitor or conveyancer deals with the repayment as part of the transaction.
4. Pay the amount confirmed, together with any interest and fees due.

If you live in a flat in a building with external cladding, or there's anything unusual about your home, check the GOV.UK guidance before arranging the valuation, as extra information may be needed.