Help to Buy Valuations

What is Help to Buy?

The Help to Buy scheme was initiated to assist individuals in climbing the housing ladder. An interest-free equity loan scheme was conceived so that people could purchase a home with a much smaller deposit.

You can get a mortgage covering 75% of the property you are looking to buy. To make up the shortfall ontop of your 5% deposit, you will need to take out the government loan, which covers an amount equal to 20% of the total property value. For the first five years, this loan is interest-free, which is one of the scheme’s better selling points.

After five years, you start making repayments; however, there is a catch: when you sell your house, you have to give 20% of the profit with the government.

The original arrangement finished on 31 March 2023.

Do You Need Help to Buy Valuations?

If you need to return or refinance your equity loan, you must first obtain an accurate property RICS valuation. This is an appraisal of your home’s worth and determines the amount of your loan that you must pay back; because a RICS valuation is a must for determining what you owe, it is critical that this appraisal is accurate.

What does Redemption Mean in the Context of Help to Buy?

In the context of Help to Buy, “redemption” refers to paying back the loan you took from the government. When you redeem the loan, the amount you pay back depends on the current market value of your property. The valuation must be done by an independent help to buy valuation assessor, after the valuation is completed, you send the valuation report to the HCA (Homes and Communities Agency), who will then administer the loan redemption process on their end.

What does Help to Buy have to do with Equity?

Equity measures how much of a property you really own. If the value of the property goes up, the amount of equity you have in it goes up too, but the loan from the government is related to a percentage of the property’s value. So, if the property’s value goes up or down, your repayment amount is also going to reflect that.

Staircasing & Help to Buy

Help to Buy homes are typically shared ownership properties, as such, you participate in something called “staircasing” when you purchase additional shares. 

Staircasing, then, is a vital part of the Help to Buy journey: you go up share by share until you own your place entirely, and you will need a correct Help to Buy valuation to enable you to determine the cost of that next share, bit by bit.

Help to Buy Surveyors

Assistance in obtaining a surveyor is offered to those contemplating the Help to Buy Scheme – if you want to ensure that your nest egg isn’t in peril, it would be wise to have a Help to Buy valuer assess your potential property. Our panel of valuers serves according to the following provisions:

  • the valuer should be formally qualified with the respected RICS qualification.
  • valuers must work independently from estate agents.
  • the RICS accredited surveyor needs to produce a report written on headed notepaper, and sign it.
  • the valuer should present at least three comparable properties, inclusive of their sale prices.
  • the comparables must match in type of building, foot print, age and must be within two miles of the subject.
  • a detailed inspection on site accompanied by a valuation report of sufficient depth.

Call us today to find out how much your Manchester home is worth with Help to Buy’s free RICS valuation from a registered valuer.

Surveys of Commercial Property

If you’re thinking of acquiring, leasing, subletting, disposing of, or altering commercial premises in Manchester, you would be well advised to locate a surveyor skilled in the nuances of commercial building surveying – should you spot a defect in a commercial building you can use that information to negotiate an asking price for the property that’s considerably lower than what the seller originally wanted, or you can talk your way out of a bad deal altogether. 

Our Manchester-based team of RICS-compliant commercial building surveyors is equipped to handle matters throughout Manchester.

Contact

Our team prioritizes client care above all else. We look forward to being in touch with you so you can instruct a surveyor in Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham or Cardiff. You can reach out to us easily. Just fill out our form, and we’ll get back to you with a free quote for your survey. All our surveyors are qualified as members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and we are one of the UK’s leading providers of building survey and valuation services:

The property survey you commission will be carried out by an accredited professional. Your chartered surveyor will be a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), or will belong to some other industry-standard professional body. Rest assured; you will receive highest quality of professional service for your survey.

Scroll to Top