Help To Buy Conveyancers

Purchasing a property through a Help To Buy scheme requires a conveyancer who can guide you through the process smoothly, ensure that the property you’re purchasing meets the criteria required by your chosen scheme, and that you are fully eligible for the benefits available.

What is Help to Buy?

Help to Buy refers to various government schemes designed to help potential homeowners in the UK purchase their first property. Each scheme has certain criteria in order for you to be eligible, for example, how old you are, whether you have a long-term disability or your income.

Although Help To Buy exists to help purchase a property, the schemes do not apply to any property. Only properties that follow another set of criteria are eligible to be purchased, and there tends to be a cap on the price of the property, the age of the property and whether it is a new build or not.

What Help to Buy Schemes are available?

In England there are several Help to Buy schemes that are still available to help people buy their first home. Be aware that each comes with their own eligibility criteria and restrictions.

• Help to Buy Equity Loan

Although this scheme closed in 2023, some property owners will still be paying off their government loan under it. When it comes to partly or fully repaying your loan, you’ll need a conveyancer to help process the payment for you.

• Mortgage Guarantee Scheme

Introduced in 2025, this gives wider access to 95% LTV mortgage rates through lenders. The difference here is that if you fail to keep up with repayments, the government will bear responsibility of paying some of the money back.

• Lifetime ISA (LISA)

This savings account can be used to help purchase your first home, but you will need a conveyancer to help you, as your LISA funds will be released to them in order to purchase the property.

• Shared Ownership

Purchase a fraction of the property for a fraction of the price. Shared owners can then “staircase” and purchase more shares of their property over time. Find out more about shared ownership conveyancing.

• Help to Buy ISA

You can no longer apply to this scheme, but for those still paying into their Help To Buy ISA, you have until 2030 until the government’s 25% bonus can be used on your property purchase. This bonus will be sent to your conveyancer to complete the transaction.

• First Homes Scheme

Certain new build properties are available through this scheme, which gives up to a 50% discount on the purchase price, providing you meet the national and local criteria set out by the government and your local council.

• Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO)

Certain shared ownership properties can be bought by those over the age of 55 who meet certain criteria. This gives you an opportunity to purchase a property for less than the cost of purchasing a property outright. Your conveyancer can advise whether you meet all the eligibility criteria for the property you have in mind.

• Home Ownership for people with a long-term disability (HOLD)

For those with a long-term disability, you can purchase a property that fits your needs, whether it is a new build or 2nd-hand home. In this case, a shared ownership provider will purchase the property, then sell it back to you on a shared ownership basis. Be sure to talk to a conveyancer for advice.

• Forces Help to Buy

For service personnel, you can borrow up to 50% of your salary (to a maximum of £25,000) to go towards the purchase of a property. The funds can even be used to cover your conveyancing fees! There are, as always, a few eligibility criteria to meet to fully qualify. Talk to our conveyancers to find out how we can help you move quicker.

What do Conveyancers do for Help To Buy properties?

Regardless of which scheme or property you are purchasing, you will need a conveyancer, who will be there to manage the legal aspect of purchasing your property. They will ensure that you are fully eligible for the Help to Buy scheme and the property you are purchasing, perform searches and any required transfers, and ultimately have you own the property legally at the end of the process.

For the Help to Buy Equity Loan, your conveyancer will ensure all documentation for the loan is correct, obtain the authority to proceed before exchange, arrange for the funds to be released to complete the property purchase and register the equity loan at the Land Registry.

For the First Homes scheme, your conveyancer will ensure you meet all criteria for the scheme and that the discount remains with the property for future sales, in case the next buyer uses the same scheme to purchase from you.

It will be your conveyancer that requests the bonus funds from your LISA provider and ensures the property purchase meets the schemes rules so everything can go ahead.

If you’re not sure whether you’re eligible for a Help to Buy scheme, or whether the property you are interested in or selling can be bought or sold on the scheme, then contacting a conveyancer is your best port of call.

How much does Help To Buy conveyancing cost?

There are no additional fees when purchasing or selling a Help to Buy property, but fees will depend on the price of your property and what kind of property you are buying. Here at Chapter Law, we pride ourselves on transparency, our fixed fees and our no-sale, no-fee promise.

To find out how much your conveyancing may cost, use our handy fee estimate tool.