Help to Buy Valuations Birmingham

How does it work?

Firstly, you will need to obtain a valuation of your property. To produce a redemption figure for redeeming your loan, you need to provide a valuation for your property that has been conducted by a RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Certified Surveyor.

The RICS Valuation Report should be sent to Target upon completion.

NB. This valuation will only be valid for 3 months. If your loan redemption is not completed within these three months, you will need to provide Target with another Valuation; a Desktop Valuation, re-confirming your property value. You must complete your transaction within a maximum of 6 months of the original valuation.

You will receive an estimated repayment quote once you have successfully submitted your valid valuation report. This will include details of any arrears and your daily interest payment rate allowing your solicitor to calculate an accurate final repayment sum.

It is important to note that where you are repaying the loan and remaining in the property the repayment figure is set using the determined market value. You must also clear any arrears on the account prior to obtaining approval to start the process. Another thing to note is that you will be required to pay any interest payments due from the last payment made to the agreed completion date.

In the case of a house sale the repayment sum is based on the market valuation or the sales price (whichever is the highest of the two). You must be able to clear any arrears on the account by the defined completion date or liaise with Target directly to make payment arrangements. You will be required to pay any interest payments due from the last payment made to the agreed completion date.

Next, you need to instruct a solicitor to undertake the required legal conveyancing. The following website may assist you in selecting a Solicitor: www.lawsociety.org.uk

Commence the Redemption Process. You need to complete a Loan Redemption Form and return it to Target together with a payment of £200 for the administration fee. NB. Target will provide a form for a redemption via house sale (Form A) or a redemption without house sale (Form B) House sale.

It is your responsibility to clear any outstanding interest payments prior to completion. Completion will not be granted until this is done, or an interest payment shortfall agreement is in place.

Staircasing – prior to beginning the process, all arrears must be cleared.

The Redemption Letter Process. Once you have received your loan redemption form, fee and valuation Target will provide a redemption letter. This will be sent to both yourself and your solicitor. Your solicitor will also receive a guidance pack and a copy of the required form of legal undertaking to be submitted at least fifteen business days prior to completion.

The redemption letter will include your estimated repayment figure – this is based on the valuation. An explanation of how the redemption figure is reached for a sale and staircasing scenario is set out below.

If you are redeeming through the sale of your house the letter will also include any arrears to be cleared – full details will be issued to your solicitor in the guidance pack; however, you must be aware of the requirement for a legal undertaking to be submitted to Target 15 business days prior to any set completion date.

Redemption with the Sale of Your Property. In this scenario, the market value used to calculate your Redemption Figure will be the figure provided in the RICS Valuation Report or the Sales Price (whichever is the higher of the two).

Redemption without Selling Your Property. In this scenario, the market value used to calculate your Redemption Figure will be the figure provided in the RICS Valuation Report for your property.

Ready to Complete – the process. At least 15 working days prior to the expected completion date, your solicitor must provide a legal undertaking to Target. This should be done via email. It is important to note that if the completion date stated on the legal undertaking does not take place and is delayed by more than one week a new solicitor undertaking is required and new redemption figure confirmed.

Where there are not sufficient funds to settle the interest payment you must engage with Target directly. Target will not grant authority to complete until all monies due to the agency have been settled or agreement reached on clearing the sum after completion.

ATC (Authority to Complete). On completion of confirming any additional payment arrangements or within 5 days of receipt of the undertaking the Authority to Complete will be issued by Target. You can then complete your transaction.

Completion. Your solicitor is responsible for sending through the correct redemption monies to Target. On receipt of cash the amount will be validated against the figures stated on the Authority to
Complete, and if the amount received matches the ATC one of the following actions will take place:

1. In the case of repayment from a house sale, an e-DS1 will be issued to Land Registry to release the Homes and Communities Agency’s charge and confirmation of such will be issued by Target.
2. In the case of stair-casing (redeeming without a house sale), a memorandum of stair-casing will be issued stating the remaining equity mortgage percentage.

The EWS1 Form

If you are a leaseholder in a block of flats you will need to get a copy of the building’s EWS1 Form from the owners or developers, should you wish to either repay your Help to Buy Equity Loan or re-mortgate your Help to Buy home. The EWS1 Form will confirm whether the external cladding on the block of flats is a fire risk or not.

If your property’s value is affected by external cladding, Target reserve the right, in accordance with the terms of the equity loan, to agree the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) valuer you intend to use.