The best Help to Buy mortgages

The Help to Buy scheme is the Government’s latest idea to help the housing market get moving and allow those with small deposits to get onto or move up the property ladder. It consists of two main parts.

First is the Help to Buy equity loan.

It’s only available on new-build properties and consists of a Government loan worth from 10% up to 20% of the value of the property, which you combine with at least a 5% deposit you have saved up yourself. You then get a special Help to Buy mortgage from one of the participating lenders, which makes up the rest of the value of the property. So if you get a 20% equity loan, the mortgage will be for 75% loan-to-value (LTV).

In England the scheme is available on properties worth up to £600,000, while in Scotland it’s capped at £400,000 and in Wales at £300,000. The equity loan is interest free for at least five years, depending on which country you live in. 

The second part of Help to Buy is the mortgage guarantee scheme.

Again, you just need a 5% deposit, but the Government acts as a ‘guarantor’ on the mortgage. The mortgage lender is charged an insurance fee for this guarantee, which is then built into the cost of the mortgage that you repay. This strand of the scheme is available UK-wide.

For more read Help to Buy mortgages explained.

Equity loan scheme

Let’s take a look at which lenders are taking part in each of the Help to Buy segments and what the rates look like, starting with the equity loan mortgages.

The following lenders are offering equity loan mortgages in the three areas that are now up and running on the scheme:

Help to Buy (England)	Help to Buy (Wales)	Help to Buy (Scotland)
Barclays via Woolwich Skipton BS Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds Bank/Bank of Scotland/ Halifax) Nationwide BS Leeds BS Virgin Money Santander NatWest/RBS TSB Chorley BS Dudley BS Mansfield BS Newbury BS - (selected postcodes in south east England) Teachers BS (only available to teachers as well as residents of Wiltshire, Dorset and Hampshire)	Barclays via Woolwich Skipton BS Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds Bank/Bank of Scotland/ Halifax) Nationwide BS Leeds BS Virgin Money Mansfield BS Monmouthshire BS Principality BS	Barclays via Woolwich Skipton BS Lloyds Banking Group(Lloyds Bank/Bank of Scotland/ Halifax) Nationwide BS Leeds BS Virgin Money Glasgow Credit Union Scotwest Credit Union

Here are the top ten Help to Buy equity loan rates across two-year deals on a 75% LTV mortgage:

Lender	Type	Rate	Fee	Availability	Notes
Nationwide	Tracker	1.44% (Base rate + 0.94%)	£999	England, Wales, Scotland	First time buyers pay a reduced fee of £499.
Nationwide	Tracker	1.84% (Base rate + 1.34%)	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Nationwide	Fixed	1.89%	£999	England, Wales, Scotland	First time buyers pay a reduced fee of £499.
Leeds BS	Discount	1.99% (SVR-3.70%)	£499	England, Wales, Scotland
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Fixed	2.04%	£999	England, Wales, Scotland
Leeds BS	Fixed	2.19%	£199	England, Wales, Scotland
Nationwide	Fixed	2.29%	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Virgin Money	Fixed	2.29%	£995	England, Wales, Scotland
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Fixed	2.29%	£999	England, Wales, Scotland	First Time buyers only. 1% cashback available up to £2,500.
NatWest/RBS	Fixed	2.42%	£0	England

Here are the top ten Help to Buy equity loan rates across three-year deals on a 75% LTV mortgage:

Lender	Type	Rate	Fee	Availability	Notes
Nationwide	Tracker	1.99% (Base rate + 1.49%)	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Newbury BS	Discount	2.39% (SVR-0.70%)	£500	England
Virgin Money	Fixed	2.49%	£995	England, Wales, Scotland	£500 cashback.
Nationwide	Fixed	2.54%	£999	England, Wales, Scotland	First time buyers pay a reduced fee of £499.
Monmouthshire BS	Discount	2.55% (SVR-2.44%)	£99	Wales
Nationwide	Fixed	2.84%	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Virgin Money	Fixed	2.89%	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Skipton BS	Fixed	2.99%	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Mansfield BS	Discount	2.99% (SVR-2.6%)	£999	England, Wales
Virgin Money	Fixed	3.09%	£995	England, Wales, Scotland	£2,500 cashback

And here are the top ten Help to Buy equity loan rates across five-year deals on a 75% LTV mortgage:

Lender	Type	Rate	Fee	Availability	Notes
Virgin Money	Fixed	2.84%	£995	England, Wales, Scotland	£500 cashback.
Nationwide	Fixed	2.84%	£999	England, Wales, Scotland	First time buyers pay a reduced fee of £499.
Leeds BS	Fixed	2.89%	£199	England, Wales, Scotland
Nationwide	Fixed	3.04%	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Santander	Fixed	3.14%	£0	England
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Fixed	3.14%	£999	England, Wales, Scotland
NatWest/RBS	Fixed	3.15%	£0	England
Virgin Money	Fixed	3.19%	£995	England, Wales, Scotland	£2,500 cashback.
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Fixed	3.34%	£0	England, Wales, Scotland
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Fixed	3.34%	£999	England, Wales, Scotland	First Time buyers only. 1% cashback available up to £2,500.
Skipton BS	Fixed	3.39%	£0	England, Wales, Scotland

Remortgaging

If you were one of the thousands that took part in the Help to Buy equity loan scheme when it launched in April 2013 your original deal may be coming to an end.

Once it expires you’ll revert to your lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) which is typically a lot more expensive. If you plan on staying in the property you might want to consider remortgaging onto a better deal.

However, there are only a handful of lenders with Help to Buy equity loan remortgage products including Leeds Building Society, Newbury Building Society, Dudley Building Society, TSB, Halifax/Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank.

Here is how the deals stack up:

Lender	Type	Rate	Fee	Max LTV	Availability	Notes
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Two-year fixed	1.74%	£0	60%	England, Wales, Scotland
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Two-year fixed	2.04%	£0	75%	England, Wales, Scotland
Newbury BS	Three-year discount	2.19% (SVR—2.26%)	£750	60%	England
Newbury BS	Three-year discount	2.39% (SVR-2.06%)	£750	75%	England
Leeds BS	Two-year fixed	2.44%	£199	75%	England, Wales, Scotland
Halifax/Bank of Scotland	Two-year fixed	2.59%	£0	85%	England, Wales, Scotland
TSB	Two-year fixed	2.69%	£995	60%	England	£250 cashback
Lloyds Bank	Two-year fixed	3.04%	£995	60%	England, Wales, Scotland
Leeds BS	Five-year fixed rate	3.14%	£199	75%	England, Wales, Scotland
TSB	Two-year fixed	3.44%	£995	75%	England	£250 cashback
Lloyds Bank	Two-year fixed	3.44%	£995	75%	England, Wales, Scotland
Dudley BS	Three-year discount	3.59% (SVR-1.40%)	£0	75%	England
Dudley BS	Three-year discount	3.99% (SVR-1%)	£0	85%	England
Lloyds Bank	Two-year fixed	4.34%	£995	85%	England, Wales, Scotland
TSB	Two-year fixed	4.49%	£995	85%	England	£250 cashback

Mortgage guarantee scheme

So far, the following lenders have signed up to the mortgage guarantee scheme:

• Al Rayan Bank
• Aldermore Bank
• Bank of Ireland (Northern Ireland customers only)
• Barclays via Woolwich
• Halifax / Bank of Scotland
• HSBC
• Lloyds Bank
• NatWest / Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)/ Ulster Bank
• Post Office Money
• Santander
• Virgin Money

The mortgage guarantee part of the scheme gives you access to 95% LTV mortgages, but you can also get these outside of the scheme.

So we've taken a look at the best deals across the 95% LTV market.

Here are the top deals for two-year fixed rate mortgages at 95% LTV. Those outside of the Help to Buy scheme are italicised while Help to Buy deals are in bold:

Lender	Rate	Fee
Chelsea BS	3.99%	£1,545
Yorkshire BS	4.04%	£845
Hanley Economic BS	4.05%	£0
Post Office Money Help to Buy	4.29%	£0
Chelsea BS	4.29%	£1,545

And here are the top rates for five-year fixed rate mortgages. Those outside of the Help to Buy scheme are italicised while Help to Buy deals are in bold:

Lender	Rate	Fees
Chelsea BS	4.69%	£1,545
Yorkshire BS	4.74%	£845
Chelsea BS	4.89%	£0
Yorkshire BS	4.89%	£0
Virgin Money Help to Buy	4.89%	£0
Post Office Money Help to Buy	4.89%	£0

See the latest mortgage rates and get expert advice

This article aims to give information, not advice. Always do your own research and/or seek out advice from a regulated broker (such as one of our brokers here at loveMONEY), before acting on anything contained in this article.

Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.