Help to buy in Worthing – all you need to know....

18 Feb, 2019

It is getting increasingly difficult for young people to get on that first rung of the property ladder as the days of 99% mortgages have long since gone and now first time buyers need a hefty slab of money to put down as the deposit... which can prove almost impossible with travelling expenses and monthly rents to fund...

Help to Buy is a Government scheme that has been designed to help people with a small amount of cash for a deposit to get on the property ladder or move up the property ladder. You need to be able to pay a deposit of 5% of the property value. The government will then provide an equity loan up to 20% of the property value. You then have to secure a mortgage for the remaining 75% of the property value. There are four main lenders taking part in the scheme and these are Barclays, Santander, Halifax and NatWest. The scheme is available only until 2021 and only applicable to properties worth less than £600,000.

Repayments on the Government loan do not need to  begin until you have owned your home for five years and up until then the loan is interest fee. For Year 6 you will be charged interest at 1.75% and this will increase each year thereafter in line with the Retail Price Index (RTI) plus 1%.This interest fee is only payable on the original amount borrowed and is not affected by any increase in the value of the property.

There are three limits for when the loan must be repaid.. The first is within a 25 year period, the second is on competition of your mortgage repayments and the third option is when you sell the house. It is definitely worth paying the loan off as quickly as possible because when the property increases in value, the Government will request the payment of 20% of the current value of the house -  for example, if you purchased your house for £300.000 you owed the Government £60,000 but if the property has increased in value since you bought it and is now worth £350,000 you will now owe the Government £70,000.

Help to buy is proving a popular scheme;-

  • You need 5% deposit to put down on your chosen property.
  • The scheme is only available for New-Build properties.
  • Properties must be under £600,000 in value
  • It is aimed especially at first time buyers.
  • The Government will provide an equity loan of up to 20%
  • The property must be your sole residence. 

There are a number of new builds in Worthing that are available with the Help to Buy scheme including one bedroomed flats on Heene Road for £265,000. Taylor Wimpey is building a development of 1,2,3,4 and 5 bedroomed properties in its Fulbeck Avenue development on the outskirts of Worthing. Bovis is building a variety of houses in Seldens Way with three bedroomed detached houses priced from £356,995 (the Southwold design) , four bedroomed starting at £354,995 for the Salisbury and five bedroomed houses for £514,995  (The Chester).

Article kindly provided by Chris Stevens. Information correct at time of writing but may be subject to change.

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