Whether you’re buying your first home, thinking of re-mortgaging, or looking into a Buy-To-Let investment, it’s worth getting some good advice. This article reveals what help is available to you, and how you can find the right mortgage.
First-time buyers and home-movers
Getting on the property ladder can be a huge challenge for most. The good news is, there are Government Home ownership schemes available, such as Help to Buy and Shared Ownership, that can help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
In April 2021 a Government-backed mortgage scheme was launched enabling first–time buyers or home movers the chance to secure a mortgage with just a 5% deposit.
Forces Help to Buy explained
The Forces Help To Buy scheme is designed to help you as a first-time buyer, or if you need to move home because you’re being reassigned elsewhere. The scheme allows you to borrow 50% of your salary, up to a maximum of £25,000. You don’t pay interest on the loan and it’s repayable after ten years. To qualify for the scheme:
- You must have served for 2 years
- You must have more than 6 months service remaining when you apply
- The property you are buying is in the UK
- You are not a reservist or a member of the Military Provost Guard
- You have not drawn any terminal benefits
Help if you’re looking to buy a new-build home
If you’re thinking about buying a new-build home, then you might want to explore the Government’s Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. It’s designed to help you buy a newly built home, with a deposit of as little as 5% of the value of the property. Similar schemes are run in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Renting out your property and consent to let
It’s not uncommon for people in the Military to get reassigned away from home. If that happens to you, you may need to rent out the home you own, while you’re living elsewhere. If you have a residential mortgage on the home you own, the first thing you need to do is inform your mortgage provider of your plans to rent the property out. They might require you to switch your residential mortgage to a Buy-To-Let mortgage – if that’s something they offer. Or, you can apply for a type of ‘consent to let’, where you get permission to rent out your property without having to switch mortgage types.
The Future Accommodation Model pilot
The Future Accommodation Model (FAM), which is being piloted across 3 bases in the UK, is designed to give you more choice in where you can live while serving. While previously you might have been restricted to living in service housing, under FAM you could have the option of renting or buying in the private sector at a subsidised rate. If you’re eligible, and you decide to buy a home, you can apply to receive help towards the cost of your mortgage.
Fee-Free Mortgage Advice Service available to Military personnel
With so many mortgages out there, it can be hard to know where to start. And if it’s your first time looking into mortgages, the whole process can feel pretty daunting.
The good news is, the Fee-Free Mortgage Advice Service, provided by Tenet Mortgage Solutions Limited, have advisors that are there to help. They have independent access to the mortgage market so they can recommend the best mortgage for you. The advisors provide a personal review and are there to help you through the mortgage process.
Plus, unlike some other brokers, the mortgage advice is fee-free, so it doesn't cost you anything. The advisors have arranged mortgages for members of the Military family for many years. So you can be confident that the advisor you speak to is well-equipped to guide you.
Important things you should know.
PMGI Limited, trading as Forces Mutual acts as an intermediary for the purposes of introducing its customers to Tenet Mortgage Solutions Limited, part of Tenet. You will not receive advice or any recommendation from Forces Mutual. Such services will be provided by Tenet Mortgage Solutions Limited who will provide Forces Mutual with information about the services you have received. Forces Mutual will receive 18.6% of any lender procuration fee from Tenet Mortgage Solutions Limited in connection with the provision of mortgage broking services.
Call Tenet Mortgage Solutions Limited on:
01543 221 214
Lines are open: Monday - Friday between 9.00am-5.00pm
A mortgage is a loan secured against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
PMGI Limited, trading as Forces Mutual is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Services Register No. 114942. Registered in England & Wales No.1073408. Registered office: Brookfield Court, Selby Road, Leeds, LS25 1NB. For your security, all telephone calls are recorded and may be monitored.