The lengthy delays – which have been ongoing throughout the summer – are putting house sales at risk and forcing others trying to remortgage onto sky-high mortgage rates.
Help to Buy social media accounts have been inundated with desperate calls for support, as homeowners and conveyancers continue to be left frustrated by administrative hold-ups.
Here, Which? delves into the widespread issues and offers advice to anyone caught up in the delays.
What issues are Help to Buy customers facing?
The scheme, which was used by more than 380,000 people between 2013 and 2023, allowed first-time buyers to purchase new-build homes with an interest-free loan worth 20% of the property price.
But those trying to sell their Help to Buy property or remortgage with a different lender are now facing difficulty.
Before either of these can go through, customers require administrative paperwork that should be simple to secure. However, processes are being met with severe delays.
Remortgagers 'left in terrible position'
Dad-of-two Phil is one of the many frustrated homeowners impacted by the issues.
He and his partner Nikki have been trying to switch lenders and remortgage with NatWest, but haven't been able to without the required 'deed of postponement' documents from Help to Buy.
'Our mortgage payments have doubled as we should be paying around £570 a month but we're now paying £1,067.
'We both work full time but we're now struggling for money and in a terrible position. It's so frustrating because the customer service has been non-existent, it's impossible to get through.
'The mortgage offer has thankfully been extended, but we're panicking as we don't want to lose it.'
House sales on the brink of collapse
But the form, which costs an applicant £200, is taking months to arrive.
In applying for the redemption letter, homeowners need to send a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) valuation report on their property.
One Twitter user wrote: 'I need a redemption figure urgently. I emailed all the paperwork, paid the fee and still no response, not even an acknowledgement. Been three weeks now and I have sent chaser emails. Can’t get through on the phone. My house buying chain is going to collapse if I don’t get this soon.'
What's causing the backlog and when will the delays end?
Homes England, the government's housing agency, has apologised for the backlog and says it is working to resolve the problems.
It said: 'Cases are often complex with solicitors, brokers and lenders all involved in a process reliant on 100% accurate paperwork.
'Our current priority is for every customer to be supported as soon as possible and for usual service levels to be reinstated.'
Lending platform Lenvi, which took over administration of Help to Buy in June, told us this week it is 'gradually seeing a reduction in incoming inquiries'.
Upon securing a five-year contract to manage the scheme, the firm said it would 'digitalise and transform' the scheme's customer service.
It said: 'We are currently prioritising customers in order of completion date. However, not all incoming enquiries are quick to resolve, complex cases can also involve issues like valuation reviews, which take time to process.
'We are putting all our efforts into resolving this with Homes England and have extended our working hours and continue to explore various options to further support this increase in customer demand.'
Find out more:What to do if you need Help to Buy paperwork
The Help to Buy customer service line, which automatically ends calls after one hour of being on hold, has frustrated scores of homeowners unable to speak with a call handler.
Complainants say they have tried more than 20 times but failed to get through.
Homes England advises only those who have a completion date or mortgage offer that is set to expire within the next seven days to call 0300 123 4123.
Their account number and completion date should be detailed in the email subject line. Homes England says it will 'endeavour to reply in 10 days'.
Find out more:How to remortgage with Help to Buy
Should you pay off the Help to Buy loan before remortgaging?
Remortgagers are not required to pay off the government's equity loan when getting a new mortgage deal. However, many borrowers are trying to do this.
There are several advantages to paying off the equity loan, if you can afford to do so.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/help-to-buy-paperwork-delays-what-you-need-to-know-if-youre-remortgaging-or-selling-akGMF6k6H5ro