Is Help to Buy Still Available in 2026? What Replaced It

The direct answer

The Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme in England closed its application window on 31 October 2022. Buyers who had an approved application before that date still had to legally complete their purchase by a final deadline in spring 2023 — after that, the scheme was fully wound down for new business. There is no route to apply for a new Help to Buy equity loan in England today, and there has not been one for some time.

A lot of the search traffic for “Help to Buy” in 2026 is people who remember the scheme name but are actually looking for whatever replaced it, or who already have a Help to Buy loan and want to know what happens next. If that is you, the next two sections should be more useful than the scheme itself.

If you already have a Help to Buy equity loan

An existing Help to Buy equity loan does not need to be repaid immediately just because the scheme has closed to new applicants — it simply runs on its original terms until you deal with it. A few things are worth understanding clearly:

• Interest typically starts after year five. Help to Buy equity loans are commonly interest-free for the first five years. From year six, interest typically becomes payable, commonly starting at around 1.75% of the loan amount and then increasing each year after that in line with the terms in your original mortgage offer — so the interest-free period is not permanent, and it is worth knowing your own start date.
• The loan is a percentage of current value, not the original amount.Whether you borrowed 20% (or 40% in London) of your purchase price, that is the percentage you owe back — but calculated against your property's current market value at the time you repay it, not the price you originally paid. If your property has risen in value, the amount you owe in cash terms typically rises too; if it has fallen, it typically falls.
• Repayment routes.The two common ways to deal with an existing loan are staircasing (buying back some or all of the government's equity share, often alongside a remortgage) or repaying it in full, commonly funded by remortgaging or by selling the property. Because eligibility, valuation, and lender criteria for this all sit within a normal remortgage application, our remortgage affordability guide covers how lenders assess that route.

None of this is a reason to act urgently on its own — but it is worth understanding your own loan's interest start date and current equity percentage before you need to make a decision, rather than finding out under time pressure.

What replaced it in 2026

No single scheme has taken Help to Buy's exact place — the 2026 landscape for small-deposit buyers is spread across several different routes, each suited to slightly different circumstances:

• Freedom to Buy (95% mortgage guarantee). A government-backed guarantee that encourages lenders to offer 95% loan-to-value mortgages on both new-build and existing properties, without any shared-equity loan involved — you simply take a normal mortgage at a higher LTV. See our Freedom to Buy guide for how it works and current lender participation.
• Shared ownership. You buy a share of a property (commonly starting from around 10%) and pay rent on the remainder, with the option to staircase up over time. This typically suits buyers who cannot yet afford a full mortgage even at 95% LTV — see our shared ownership affordability guide.
• First Homes, the Lifetime ISA, and the wider scheme list. First Homes offers eligible first-time buyers a discount on new-build homes in some areas, and the Lifetime ISA adds a government bonus toward a deposit. Our first-time buyer schemes guide rounds up the full current list, since availability and eligibility criteria for these do shift over time.
• Guarantor and family-backed mortgages. Where a family member can offer their own property as security or add income to the application, 100% (or close to 100%) LTV mortgages are commonly available without any government scheme at all — see our guarantor mortgages guide.
• Deposit Unlock (new build). A separate industry-backed scheme, distinct from government schemes, that typically allows a 5% deposit on selected new-build homes through participating builders and lenders. It is worth asking your builder or adviser whether a given development participates, since coverage varies by house-builder and region.

Choosing between the alternatives

There is no single best replacement for Help to Buy — which route commonly suits a buyer depends mostly on deposit size, the type of property, and whether family support is available. A small deposit for a new-build home commonly points toward Freedom to Buy, Deposit Unlock, or shared ownership, since all three are typically built around new-build eligibility or pricing. A small deposit for an older, existing property commonly points toward Freedom to Buy or a guarantor mortgage instead, since shared ownership and Deposit Unlock are typically new-build only. Where a family member is able and willing to help — either through a guarantor arrangement or a cash gift toward the deposit — that can open up a wider range of standard mortgages beyond any of these named schemes. None of this is a recommendation for your specific situation, and it is worth discussing your own numbers with a mortgage adviser before committing to a route.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated: August 2026