Help to Buy ISA when saving more than £200/month...

Smutley13 · 26 March 2015 at 2:15PM

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You may also find our fully researched Help to Buy ISA guide helpful.

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Hi all,

Very often visit these forums, but my first time posting. Please be gentle!

I'm after some advice. I am currently frantically saving for a deposit to buy myself my first home. I am currently saving a minimum of £750/month, but often closer to £1000/month.

This FY, I have been stashing these savings in an ISA with a reasonably good interest rate. I am now interested in the Help to Buy ISA, but I am concerned about the low amount of maximum saving per month.

At a max of £200/month that can be put into the help to buy ISA, and effectively forfeiting my subscription to any other ISAs this coming FY, can anyone recommend to me ways to save the rest of my money? Or would I be better off just leaving it in a regular ISA?

If it helps, I will be looking at buying towards the end of the year, or early 2016, so lets assume I would use a Help to Buy ISA for 3 months (the minimum period only) with the initial £1000 deposit and £200/month going in.

Thank you in advance,
Joe

InsideInsurance · 26 March 2015 at 3:03PM

Not all the details are nailed yet but this site has written the below on whats known so far

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-ISA

Smutley13 · 26 March 2015 at 3:51PM

Thanks for the reply.

I've been reading that page in a lot of detail. I guess my real question is what to do with my additional savings once I've hit the monthly limit for the Help to Buy ISA.

Keen to know as I wont be able to subscribe to a 15/16 ISA if I intend to go into a Help to Buy ISA.

TCA · 26 March 2015 at 4:05PM

Smutley13 wrote: »

Keen to know as I wont be able to subscribe to a 15/16 ISA if I intend to go into a Help to Buy ISA.

Not necessarily true:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5202505

Help to Buy ISAs don't even exist yet, so definitive guidance on their operation doesn't exist either. Put any new money into high-paying current accounts until the autumn, as the returns from these dwarf cash ISAs anyway.

P.S. Help to Buy ISAs will likely pay a "normal" cash ISA rate anyway, so balances over the £12k would earn that, but no 25% bonus.

Eco_Miser · 26 March 2015 at 11:28PM

Take a look at Regular Savings accounts: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=608697 and http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=966321 also consider high interest current accounts.

CLAPTON · 27 March 2015 at 12:23AM

Smutley13 wrote: »

Hi all,

Very often visit these forums, but my first time posting. Please be gentle!

I'm after some advice. I am currently frantically saving for a deposit to buy myself my first home. I am currently saving a minimum of £750/month, but often closer to £1000/month.

This FY, I have been stashing these savings in an ISA with a reasonably good interest rate. I am now interested in the Help to Buy ISA, but I am concerned about the low amount of maximum saving per month.

At a max of £200/month that can be put into the help to buy ISA, and effectively forfeiting my subscription to any other ISAs this coming FY, can anyone recommend to me ways to save the rest of my money? Or would I be better off just leaving it in a regular ISA?

If it helps, I will be looking at buying towards the end of the year, or early 2016, so lets assume I would use a Help to Buy ISA for 3 months (the minimum period only) with the initial £1000 deposit and £200/month going in.

Thank you in advance,
Joe

what is the interest rate you are receiving from your ISA?

hennerz · 27 March 2015 at 1:56AM

Is there any point in putting the optional £1k extra at the beginning? The only reason people would do this is to increase the amount in there, there is no other advantage right? It would only earn the 1.5% or whatever the provider is offering on the money?

LplateSaver · 27 March 2015 at 2:29AM

hennerz wrote: »

Is there any point in putting the optional £1k extra at the beginning? The only reason people would do this is to increase the amount in there, there is no other advantage right? It would only earn the 1.5% or whatever the provider is offering on the money?

You'd get the 25% bonus 5 months earlier.

In the OPs case he's saving for 3 months so he'll get £400 from the scheme.

hennerz · 27 March 2015 at 11:15AM

LplateSaver wrote: »

You'd get the 25% bonus 5 months earlier.

In the OPs case he's saving for 3 months so he'll get £400 from the scheme.

But I meant specifically on the £1000 that you can put in at the beginning of the scheme.

LplateSaver · 27 March 2015 at 11:26AM

hennerz wrote: »

But I meant specifically on the £1000 that you can put in at the beginning of the scheme.

If the OP didn't put the 1k in at the beginning he'd only earn a £150 bonus. Obviously the more money you put in the bigger your 25% bonus will be so a lot of people will take advantage of the opportunity to deposit the extra 1k I know I will because like I said it will reduce the number of months needed to save the maximum 12k.

hennerz · 27 March 2015 at 1:22PM

LplateSaver wrote: »

If the OP didn't put the 1k in at the beginning he'd only earn a £150 bonus. Obviously the more money you put in the bigger your 25% bonus will be so a lot of people will take advantage of the opportunity to deposit the extra 1k I know I will because like I said it will reduce the number of months needed to save the maximum 12k.

Ah I see. I didn't realise you got 25% on the £1k, I thought it was only 25% on the £250 for the 1st month.

Help to Buy ISA when saving more than £200/month...

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