Help to Buy Equity Loan Calculator

Calculate the management fees and repayment cost of your Help to Buy equity loan year by year.

For existing borrowers only. The Help to Buy equity loan scheme closed to new applicants on 31 October 2022. This calculator is for those who already hold an equity loan and want to understand their ongoing fees and repayment costs.

Looking to buy your first home?

The Lifetime ISA (LISA) is the main government-backed scheme still open to first-time buyers. You can save up to £4,000 a year and receive a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 per year, towards your first home or retirement.

Lifetime ISA Calculator Help to Buy ISA vs Lifetime ISA Guide First-Time Buyer's Complete Guide Updated April 2026

Your details

The price you paid when you bought the property

20% outside London, up to 40% in London

Initial loan: £50,000

Affects the repayment amount (loan is repaid as % of sale price)

The management fee increases by RPI + 1% each April from year 7

When you plan to sell or remortgage

Your results

Equity Loan Repayment After 10 Years

Loan repayment in year 10

£67,196

Total fees paid

£4,692

Initial loan
£50,000
Property value
£335,979
20% repayable
£67,196

Breakdown

Initial loan (at purchase)
£50,000
Loan growth (due to house price rises)
+£17,196
Total fees paid (years 6–10)
£4,692
Total repayment in year 10
£67,196

Important: Due to property price growth, your repayment (£67,196) is £17,196 more than your original loan of £50,000. The equity loan is always repaid as a percentage of the current sale price, not the original amount.

Year-by-year schedule

YearProperty valueEquity loanAnnual feeMonthly fee
1 fee-free £257,500 £51,500 N/A N/A
2 fee-free £265,225 £53,045 N/A N/A
3 fee-free £273,182 £54,636 N/A N/A
4 fee-free £281,377 £56,275 N/A N/A
5 fee-free £289,819 £57,964 N/A N/A
6 fees begin £298,513 £59,703 £875 £72.92
7 £307,468 £61,494 £906 £75.47
8 £316,693 £63,339 £937 £78.11

Related calculators

Mortgage Calculator Mortgage Overpayment Stamp Duty Calculator Lifetime ISA Calculator

Frequently asked questions

Property & Mortgage Guide

Help to Buy equity loan: what you need to know

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme was a government programme that helped people buy a new-build home with a smaller deposit. The scheme closed to new applicants in October 2022 (with completions accepted until March 2023), but hundreds of thousands of homeowners still have an active equity loan on their property. If you are one of them, understanding how management fees work and when to consider repaying is important for long-term financial planning.

How the equity loan worked

Under the Help to Buy scheme, the government lent buyers up to 20% of the property's purchase price (40% in London) interest-free for the first five years. Buyers needed a minimum 5% deposit and took out a repayment mortgage for the rest. At its peak, over 360,000 homes were purchased through the scheme.

Crucially, the loan is based on a percentage of the property value, not a fixed cash sum. If you borrowed 20% to buy a £250,000 property, you owe 20% of whatever the property is worth when you come to repay, not the original £50,000. If the property rises to £350,000, you owe £70,000 back. This is a key distinction many buyers underestimated at the time of purchase.

Management fees: year 6 onwards

The equity loan is interest-free for the first five years. From year 6, a management fee kicks in at 1.75% of the outstanding loan value per year, rising annually by CPI inflation plus 2%. These fees are charged monthly and do not reduce the loan balance, they are purely a fee for holding the loan.

In a high-inflation environment, these fees can rise sharply. If CPI is 4%, the fee escalator is 6%, meaning the monthly fee grows by 6% each year on top of the loan percentage. Over several years, these fees can become substantial. The calculator above shows your year-by-year fee schedule so you can plan ahead.

When to consider repaying

You can repay the equity loan at any time, in full or in part (minimum 10% of the property's current market value per repayment). Repaying early, before year 6 — avoids management fees entirely. After year 6, the decision depends on the cost of borrowing to repay versus continuing to pay management fees.

The most common approach is to repay when remortgaging, using the new mortgage to simultaneously clear the equity loan. This requires a surveyor's valuation of the property (at your cost) to determine the current repayment amount. You'll need to contact the Help to Buy agent (Target Group, acting for Homes England) to initiate the process.

Selling a property with a Help to Buy loan

If you sell your home before repaying the equity loan, the outstanding loan percentage is repaid from the sale proceeds. For example, if you took a 20% equity loan and sell for £300,000, £60,000 (20%) goes to Homes England, regardless of what you originally borrowed. The remainder, after clearing your repayment mortgage, is yours.

You cannot sub-let a property purchased under Help to Buy without prior written consent from Homes England. The scheme was intended for owner-occupiers, and the equity loan terms prohibit renting the property out.

Alternatives now the scheme has closed

For buyers who missed Help to Buy, alternative government-backed options include the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme (5% deposit mortgages backed by the government), the Lifetime ISA (25% government bonus on savings up to £4,000 per year, usable for a first home), and shared ownership schemes run by housing associations. The First Homes scheme, which offers new-build properties at a 30–50% discount to eligible first-time buyers, is also available in England through some developers.

Sources & methodology

Built and maintained by UK Money Tools, a personal finance resource (not a financial adviser). Last reviewed April 2026. Rates and thresholds come from official UK government publications.

Figures are estimates only. This is not financial or tax advice. For help with your specific situation, speak to HMRC or a qualified adviser.