Help to buy limitation question

Rohaq

I was reading the Help To Buy ISA guide, and noticed this section:

Q. Can I buy any home with this ISA?

A. The bonus will only be available on homes worth up to £450,000 in London or £250,000 anywhere else in the UK (London is defined as the inner and outer London boroughs, as set by the Office of National Statistics). Unlike other Government schemes, you are not restricted on buying a new build or second-hand home.

My issue? I live and work in Cambridge, and anybody who has looked at prices in Cambridge knows that finding anything below £250,000 that:

a) isn't a flat/maisonette/mobile home
b) isn't a run down heap
c) doesn't involve shared ownership

is difficult at best. Even the cheapest 2 bed terraced houses tend to be put up for £250,000 minimum, and a shortage of cheaper properties means that it's easy for offers to exceed that. Prices are more than likely going to increase with time, too.

So looking at the Help To Buy scheme, I'm unsure of the wording: Does it mean that there's little point in saving using it considering that even the cheapest house prices are likely to well exceed that £250,000 limit, or would the bonus only apply to £250,000 of the value of the house, and I'm free to aim higher?

In addition, are there limitations on what I can do with the property afterwards? If I were to suddenly move away for some reason, would I be able to rent the property out without an issue? If there are limitations on the use of the property, would those expire after any given amount of time of living in the property?

Apologies if these are dumb questions: I'm saving as a first time buyer, and this is all fairly new territory to me. So far I've just been stashing money aside in an e-savings account with crappy interest (just to keep the money out of my main account, mainly, though it's been useful for quick access in emergencies :P), and I'd really like to start saving money more sensibly.

TBeckett100

Can't see the joy in this help to buy ISA

Assume the £250k house goes up by 5%pa. if you spend years saving to achieve the government contribution of £600pa or whatever it is, then you will always play catchup

HereHareHere

Rohaq wrote: »

Apologies if these are dumb questions: I'm saving as a first time buyer, and this is all fairly new territory to me. So far I've just been stashing money aside in an e-savings account with crappy interest (just to keep the money out of my main account, mainly, though it's been useful for quick access in emergencies :P), and I'd really like to start saving money more sensibly.

Have you considered the Santander 123 Current account?
You get 3% interest on balances between £3k and £20k, it worked out well for me whilst saving a deposit.

There a few hoops to go through to get it like setup 2 direct debits, £2 monthly fee and deposit min £500 a month but you also get cashback on certain bills.