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What is Forces Help to Buy
Make Your Forces Help to Buy Entitlement Work for Your Mortgage
Forces Help to Buy is an interest free Ministry of Defence scheme that can help eligible Regular Armed Forces personnel buy a home. You may be able to borrow up to 50% of your annual salary, capped at £25,000, to support your property purchase, including towards a deposit and certain buying costs. The advance is repaid through your Armed Forces salary and must be considered alongside your mortgage affordability. Mortgage lenders have different rules for Forces Help to Buy, military income, deposits and repayments, so choosing a lender that fits your circumstances is important. Specialist mortgage advice can help you coordinate your FHTB application, mortgage and property purchase from the outset.
Using Forces Help to Buy With a Mortgage
Forces Help to Buy can make buying a home more achievable, but the FHTB advance is only one part of your overall mortgage application.
Getting Forces Help to Buy approved does not automatically mean you will qualify for the mortgage you need.
Your mortgage lender will still assess your income, existing commitments, credit history, deposit and property. They may also take your monthly Forces Help to Buy repayment into account when deciding how much you can afford to borrow.
35,000+
Over 35,000 Forces Help to Buy payments have been made since the scheme launched in April 2014.95%+
of Forces Help to Buy payments had already resulted in a property purchase or extension by 31 March 2026.Who is eligible for Forces Help to Buy?
Current MOD policy states that most UK Regular Service personnel can apply once they have:
- completed 12 months of Service from enlistment
- completed Phase 1 training
- more than six months remaining before termination from the Services
- not given notice or applied for early termination, except in specified circumstances
- appropriate Commanding Officer approval
- met the required medical criteria
- no outstanding Crown Debt preventing an advance.
Reservists and Military Provost Guard Service personnel are not currently eligible for a standard FHTB advance. There can be exceptional circumstances within the detailed MOD rules.
The official JSP 464 Volume 1 is the definitive policy document, so eligibility should always be checked against the latest version before relying on a Forces Help to Buy advance.
Different Mortgage Lender Criteria
It’s really important to understand your options, get advice and approach the right lender for your needs. Mortgage Lenders differ from one to the other, and they have different criteria for:
- Forces Help to Buy deposits
- Armed Forces salaries and allowances
- monthly FHTB repayments
- overseas postings
- BFPO addresses
- time remaining in Service
- credit history and existing commitments
At The Mortgage Broker, you can compare options from 130+ lenders and more than 25,000 mortgage products with an experienced, CeMAP-qualified mortgage adviser who understands the practical challenges that can come with an Armed Forces mortgage.
Your adviser can look at your mortgage, deposit and Forces Help to Buy advance together, helping you understand what is affordable, which lenders may be suitable and what needs to happen next.
Get your mortgage plans in place before you apply: If you are considering Forces Help to Buy, you do not need to work everything out yourself. Start with a free appointment and find out where you stand before committing to a property.
Book a Free AppointmentYour home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Stat Source: Ministry of Defence, Forces Help to Buy Statistics 2025 to 2026, published 6 August 2026.
Forces Help to Buy: Quick Overview
- Up to £25,000: borrow up to 50% of eligible annual salary, subject to the scheme maximum.
- Interest-free: FHTB is an advance of salary rather than a conventional mortgage or government equity loan.
- Regular Service personnel: current rules generally require at least 12 months’ service, completion of Phase 1 training and more than six months remaining in Service.
- Use it towards your purchase: it can contribute towards the property purchase, deposit and eligible buying costs.
- Repay through your pay: repayment is normally collected directly from salary over a period of up to 10 years.
- Mortgage lender rules still apply: FHTB approval does not automatically mean a mortgage will be approved.
- Allow enough time: current MOD policy requires applications to reach the FHTB section at least six weeks before expected completion.
Is Forces Help to Buy still available in 2026?
Yes. Forces Help to Buy is still available and it is no longer a temporary pilot scheme. The Ministry of Defence made Forces Help to Buy an enduring policy from 1 January 2023, meaning there is currently no scheduled scheme end date.
That matters because a lot of older Forces Help to Buy information online still refers to previous extension dates or suggests the scheme has finished, and it definitely hasn’t.
The latest MOD Forces Help to Buy statistics, published in August 2026, show that the scheme remains actively used. During 2025/26 there were 3,978 first-stage applications and 2,483 payments, with payments increasing by 7% compared with the previous financial year.
How does the Forces Help to Buy mortgage process work?
A well-managed FHTB purchase needs the MOD, mortgage lender and conveyancer working to compatible timescales.Before committing to a property, understand roughly how much mortgage borrowing is affordable and which lenders are comfortable with your Armed Forces circumstances. This includes basic salary, regular allowances, any additional income, commitments, your FHTB Payment, deposit etc. We can take these figures very quickly.
A Mortgage in Principle can help establish your likely mortgage position before you make an offer. At The Mortgage Broker, you can search mortgage options from 130+ lenders rather than relying on the criteria of a single bank.
Get a Mortgage in PrincipleFHTB applications are made through the Joint Personnel Administration system, using the online self-service process.
Current MOD policy states that the FHTB Section should receive applications at least six weeks before your expected completion date.
Do this early.
The current MOD policy specifically tells applicants to make their mortgage provider and solicitor aware that they intend to use Forces Help to Buy.
This allows the deposit, mortgage and legal process to be structured correctly from the beginning.
Your mortgage lender will undertake its normal affordability, credit, income and property checks.
FHTB approval does not guarantee mortgage approval. The MOD expressly makes this distinction within JSP 464.
Approved funds are normally paid directly to your legal representative.
Under current policy, legal representatives should request the advance at least 10 working days before it is required.
Once the purchase completes, the FHTB advance is recovered through your Armed Forces pay according to the applicable repayment schedule
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What is the Forces Help to Buy scheme?
Forces Help to Buy is a Ministry of Defence scheme designed to help eligible members of the Armed Forces become homeowners despite the additional challenges that can come with a mobile military career. It is not the old civilian Help to Buy equity loan scheme.
Instead, FHTB is an interest-free advance of your Armed Forces salary. It can be used when buying your first home and in certain circumstances when moving home because of an assignment or changed family circumstances. Current MOD rules also allow limited uses for self-builds and extensions where the relevant criteria are met.
The home must normally be intended for occupation by you or your immediate family. FHTB is not designed to fund the purchase of a buy-to-let investment or second home.
the whole team have been absolutely incredible and got a mortgage and an help to buy in record time! Simply outstanding service. Thank you.
How much can you get through Forces Help to Buy?
The maximum Forces Help to Buy advance is generally the lower of:
- 50% of your eligible gross basic pay, including qualifying Recruitment and Retention Pay
- £25,000
- the amount actually required under the scheme’s property purchase calculation.
Allowances are excluded from the FHTB salary calculation itself. For example, if the relevant salary were £30,000, 50% would be £15,000. If it were £55,000, 50% would exceed £25,000, so the overall FHTB cap would apply.
These examples only illustrate the scheme calculation. Your actual entitlement is determined by the MOD and does not establish how much you can borrow on a mortgage.
Does Forces Help to Buy increase how much mortgage you can borrow?
Not automatically or directly. However, FHTB an of course reduce the amount of mortgage borrowing you need, and it helps with deposit, so therefore means you may need a smaller loan to complete a purchase. So in essence it can, bit please note, lenders will normally take the monthly FHTB repayment into account as a financial commitment when checking affordability.
This is an important distinction as a bigger deposit can improve the mortgage structure, but the additional salary deduction could simultaneously reduce affordability with some lenders and therefore, not immediately mean you can borrow more. Our team of specialists can explain this and run through any help you need, costings, rates and all other guidance.
However, this is why your mortgage and FHTB need to be looked at together, rather than treating the £25,000 advance as free additional borrowing.
Does Forces Help to Buy count as your mortgage deposit?
It can, but lender rules are not identical as mentioned previously. This is one of the most important parts of a Forces Help to Buy mortgage application.
For example, Halifax currently states (August 2026) that an FHTB advance can be accepted as a deposit on a main residence, with the repayment recorded as a financial commitment. Nationwide also supports FHTB applications, but its published guidance shows that FHTB does not necessarily satisfy every minimum deposit requirement under every mortgage scheme.
So there is no sensible answer to: “Which is the best Forces Help to Buy mortgage lender?” without first knowing your own deposit, salary, FHTB amount, credit file, property, posting circumstances and affordability.
A lender accepting FHTB is only the starting point. Its wider lending criteria still need to fit you.
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Can Army, Royal Navy and RAF personnel use Forces Help to Buy?
Yes, eligible Regular personnel across the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force can potentially use FHTB.
“Army Help to Buy”, “military Help to Buy” and “Armed Forces Help to Buy” are common search terms, but they are generally referring to the same Ministry of Defence Forces Help to Buy scheme.
Your individual eligibility still needs to satisfy the MOD requirements.