We support our servicemen and women to get on the property ladder. There are opportunities to achieve home ownership, expand your home or move to another property.

Read our Director, David Beach, in the Spring 2020 edition of Army&You magazine (p. 40).

Below is an outline on UK armed forces mortgages and how we can help.

Help with Armed Forces Mortgages

Everyone has challenges with getting on the property ladder, however, these may be more taxing if you have been deployed to different areas in the UK or wider world. To manage this and avoid being disadvantaged it is important to get specialist advice of lenders that have a greater understanding of your situation and are likely to be more flexible and accommodating of your needs.

They may allow:

• 'Consent to let' on a standard residential mortgage
  • Buy to Let mortgages would usually have;
    • Higher interest rates
    • A minimum deposit requirement of 20%
• UK house purchase or renting out whilst stationed abroad
• The house to go unoccupied for periods
• Purchase overseas
• Low credit score
• Use of BFPO address

Forces Help to Buy Scheme

Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) is a scheme for armed forces personnel to help them get onto the property ladder. It involves an interest-free loan to cover the deposit and other fees.

Since launch in April 2014 FHTB has helped over 18,000 military personnel and it has now been further extended to the end of 2022.

More information can be found on the Government website Forces Help to Buy

Benefits

• You will be able to borrow up to 50% of your salary and any recruitment and retention pay (formerly Specialist Pay) up to a maximum of £25,000
• The FHTB scheme is an interest free advance of salary and is to be repaid over ten years
• It is available to Regular personnel to buy their first home or move to a new location (more than 50 miles from their current property), although there may be some exceptions
• Most mainstream mortgage providers accept FHTB, but you should first check with your proposed lender before progressing any formal mortgage application
• Approval for FHTB is no guarantee that a mortgage lender will advance a mortgage

FHTB can help you buy your first home, move to another property on assignment, or because your family’s needs have changed. 

This can serve as the deposit, partial deposit or it could be put towards other costs and fees, such as solicitor and estate agent payments.

Are you eligible?

To be eligible personnel must fulfil the following criteria:

• Be in Regular service
• Those serving in the Naval Service must have been accepted onto trained strength, i.e. in a complement billet
• Army and RAF personnel must have completed two years service from the date of enlistment and be on the trained strength i.e. completed Phase 2 training
• Have at least six months left to serve at the time of application
• In the last twelve months, not have owned a property within 50 miles of the proposed house purchase (although there may be some exceptions)

Application and process

• Apply for the loan online via the Joint Personnel Administration (JAP) system
• If accepted, you can be given a Personal Information Note by the MoD as evidence of your FHTB advance before seeking a mortgage offer
• Payment of the FHTB amount is made by BACS direct to your legal representative, who must apply for the funds at least 10 working days before the property completion date

You can seek advice regarding your application through your Chain of Command and personnel agency.

Repayments

The process of paying back a FHTB loan is usually over the course of 10 years. As it is interest free you will only pay back the amount you borrowed.

Other Help to Buy Schemes

FHTB is not related to other Government funded Help to Buy schemes (Equity Loan and Shared Ownership) but can be used together with some lenders. Again this is where you need specialist advice.

• FHTB can provide you with a loan to help with your deposit and fees
• Help to Buy (Equity Loan) could help you secure a home with only a 5% deposit
• The government offers a loan covering up to 20% of the property’s purchase price (interest free for five years) and you take out a mortgage to cover the remaining 75%
  The scheme is limited to new build properties from registered Help to Buy builders, which must serve as your only residence after completion

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage 

Contact us 01722 322911 to find out how we can help