Hundreds of thousands of equity loans remain live as post-scheme advice work intensifies for brokers
The closure of Help to Buy to new applicants in March 2023 did not mark the end of the scheme for mortgage brokers — it marked the beginning of a new and more complex advisory challenge.
Every month, another cohort of borrowers reaches their fifth-year anniversary and begins paying interest on their equity loan. Adrian Sutcliffe (pictured top), sales director at Heron Financial, says his firm is already fielding a steady stream of calls from clients asking the same question: what do I do about Help to Buy now?
"With hundreds of thousands of loans still live, this is no longer a niche query, it's becoming a mainstream remortgage conversation," Sutcliffe said.
The scale of the issue is significant. Government figures put total Help to Buy completions at close to 380,000 properties, with equity loans worth over £22 billion advanced. Many of those borrowers entered the scheme believing the first five years represented straightforward, cost-free borrowing. Sutcliffe argues that framing was misleading.
Because the loan tracks a percentage of the property's value rather than a fixed sum, any house price growth over those five years has effectively transferred additional value to the government. "A borrower whose home rose 25% in value hasn't had free borrowing, they've handed back a quarter more than they took out, interest free label notwithstanding," Sutcliffe pointed out.
That same dynamic shapes the decision borrowers now face. Consolidating the equity loan onto the main mortgage swaps a low headline rate for a higher one, making early repayment look expensive on a monthly cost basis.
However, Sutcliffe cautions that delay only pays off if future price growth remains modest. In markets that have continued to move, waiting could ultimately prove more costly than the interest saved. "There is no universally correct answer here; it depends on the borrower's view of their local market, their appetite for exposure to it, and their wider financial position," he said.
Sutcliffe is clear that the broker's role is not simply to process a redemption but to walk clients through the trade-offs with the same rigour applied to equity release or debt consolidation advice. He acknowledges this often produces more questions than answers, and can leave clients feeling less rather than more certain. Well-advised clients face further difficulties at a process level.
A Help to Buy valuation is valid for only three months, yet the overall remortgage process routinely runs longer, forcing borrowers to pay for repeat valuations as timelines slip. Brokers coordinating the wider transaction typically have no visibility of where a redemption sits within Homes England's own process. Heron Financial has raised these concerns directly in a recent consultation with Homes England on the redemption journey.
With the scheme's origination phase closed and its unwind set to run for another two decades, Sutcliffe argues the industry must now build an advice standard commensurate with the scale of what remains. He acknowledges that thorough advice on Help to Buy often produces more questions than answers, and can leave clients feeling less rather than more certain — but he is unequivocal that this is no reason to shy away from the conversation.
"That discomfort is not a reason to avoid the conversation, it's precisely why it needs to happen," Sutcliffe said. "An informed borrower who feels uncertain is in a far better position than a confident one who was never shown the full picture."
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