Leeds Building Society to accept Help to Buy remortgage applications

Leeds Building Society is the first lender in the UK to announce it will accept re-mortgage applications from Help to Buy Equity borrowers.

The lender will accept re-mortgages on its existing Help to Buy (HTB) products which include a two year discount HTB mortgage at 1.99% available up to 75% loan to value (LTV), a two year fixed rate HTB mortgage at 2.34% available up to 75% LTV and a five year fixed rate HTB mortgage at 2.99% available up to 75% LTV.

The Society is offering Help to Buy Equity home owners the opportunity to remortgage to a competitive rate, and retain their existing loan size, subject to valuation, keeping the government equity loan.

Alternatively, they can choose to redeem the government equity loan as part of their remortgage up to 90% LTV and buy the property outright.

The first Help to Buy Equity borrowers bought their homes in May 2013, and between then and September 2014 more than 31,500 properties have been purchased through the scheme.

‘We have seen strong demand for our Help to Buy mortgages since these were launched in August 2013. We’re now offering those first customers coming off their initial products the opportunity to re-mortgage onto a competitive new deal,’ said Martin Richardson, Leeds Building Society’s general manager for business development.

‘Now is an ideal time to remortgage as rates have never been lower. When Help to Buy Equity was launched in May 2013 the average two year fixed rate mortgage was 3.8% but by February 2015 this had fallen to 3.14%. On an average £140,000 mortgage with a 25 year term this would bring down monthly repayments by more than £49 per month,’ he explained.

John Wakefield of New Homes Mortgage Services in Cannock said it is a sign of a return to normality in the lending market. ‘Leeds is a top five building society providing innovative products to help clients meet changes in their personal circumstances, and allowing Help to Buy Equity customers to re-mortgage is a welcome addition,’ he added.

According to Jeremy Duncombe, director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, many Help to Buy customers face a difficult choice when their initial mortgage deal ends, and these options allow them to consider the best alternative for them. He hopes other lenders will follow suit.