Help to Buy scheme closed in England

The Help to Buy equity loan scheme in England ended in March 2023, closing a programme that ran for ten years from April 2013¹. The scheme had two iterations: Help to Buy 1, open to all buyers of new build homes under a £600,000 national price cap, active from 2013 to 2021, and Help to Buy 2, restricted to first-time buyers with regional price caps, active from April 2021 to March 2023¹. A similar scheme was introduced in Wales in January 2014¹.

Under the scheme, the government lent buyers up to 20% of a property's value, increased to 40% in London from February 2016¹. The loan was interest free for the first five years, after which interest started at 1.75% of the original loan amount and rose annually in line with inflation¹. The 20% equity loan allowed a buyer's deposit to be reduced to 5%, alongside a mortgage of 75% loan to value or less¹. Nottingham Building Society's mortgage glossary describes the same structure: a 5% cash deposit, a government loan of up to 20% and a 75% mortgage, with no loan fees on the 20% loan for the first five years².

Altogether, over 387,000 properties were purchased through the scheme, of which 328,000 were bought by first-time buyers, with a total equity loan value of £24.7 billion¹. Annual purchases started at almost 14,000 in 2013 and peaked at over 52,000 in both 2018 and 2019¹.

An evaluation published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government found the scheme increased first-time buyer mortgage sales but not in all areas of England¹. Comparing areas close to the England and Wales border, it estimated that around 15 to 30% of first-time buyer mortgage sales on the English side could be attributed to Help to Buy over the course of both iterations¹. It also found little effect on home ownership in areas that were already relatively less affordable before the scheme began, and that these were the areas where prices rose the most¹. Approximately half of Help to Buy customers said they could have bought a home without the scheme¹.

The evaluation did find some evidence of a negative impact from the closure on first-time buyer mortgage sales in England, suggesting the scheme was still supporting some buyers, particularly as higher interest rates created affordability pressures¹.

Why it matters for households

The closure means no new equity loans are being issued in England. Households that already hold a Help to Buy equity loan are unaffected by the closure itself: the loan remains repayable, interest is charged after the first five years at 1.75% of the original loan amount and rises annually with inflation, and the loan is repaid on the property's value at the time of redemption rather than the original purchase price¹. Buyers who used the scheme and later sell or remortgage must repay the equity share based on the property's current value¹.

For first-time buyers who did not use the scheme, the evaluation's finding that around half of customers could have bought without it indicates the scheme was not the only route into ownership for many participants¹. The evaluation also notes that by the time Help to Buy 2 ended, more high loan to value mortgages were available outside the scheme¹. Nottingham Building Society's glossary states that lenders may ask for a 5% deposit from first-time buyers, though it says at least 10% is generally needed².

What happens next

The evaluation report was updated on 16 September 2026 and covers the scheme's operation in England from 2013 to 2023¹. It sets out findings on home ownership, housing supply, developer performance, house prices, value for money and customer experience¹. No further scheme closure or repayment deadlines are reported in the sources.