Help to Buy ISA guide

masonic

smile88egc wrote: »

I love in the south west and will come a cross a similar issue, and you can't cash in a LISA until April 18 which is a long time to wait. You could write to your local MP and copy in the chancellor?

If someone is in a position to have saved up enough deposit for a >£250,000 property less than a year after the HTB scheme launched, then I put it to you that they don't need help to buy.

Rich2808

masonic wrote: »

If someone is in a position to have saved up enough deposit for a >£250,000 property less than a year after the HTB scheme launched, then I put it to you that they don't need help to buy.

And do you think someone who can afford to pay £450k for a flat in London needs taxpayer help - that implies you have a £50k deposit and earn £100k.

It's not about offering help to those who need it it's about politics. Poor kids can't afford to buy property - middle class potential Tories can.

colsten

Rich2808 wrote: »

Poor kids can't afford to buy property - middle class potential Tories can.

Such rubbish. Many kids from all sorts of backgrounds will be, or have already been, able to buy a property with the help of this bonus. Buying their first home doesn't change their "class" or who they vote for. It just gets them onto the property ladder. If you don't want to be on it: it's optional, you don't have to be on it.

masonic

Rich2808 wrote: »

And do you think someone who can afford to pay £450k for a flat in London needs taxpayer help - that implies you have a £50k deposit and earn £100k.

Based on a London house prices rising 14% over the past year, every month a purchase is delayed costs an average of £5,000. Delaying a purchase in order to build up (or lobby for) a HTB ISA entitlement is madness if you have the deposit already.

If you don't have that sort of money, and instead need to spend a few years saving it up, say at £833 per month over 5 years, then the HTB bonus would allow you to purchase 3 months earlier, saving a London couple with a combined income of around £100k about £21k overall based on current conditions, but costing the taxpayer around £6k. I've seen the overall cost of living quoted as being around 1.5x much of the rest of the UK, so a combined £100k income translates to an individual income of about £33k, which doesn't strike me as excessive.

P.Borton

I currently have a cash ISA with a good rate which I opened several years ago. I get a bonus rate on this ISA if I contribute to it every month. I am also using some high interest accounts and have maximised the amounts I can put in these. The help-to-buy ISAs only let you save £200 a month (after the initial 1200 in the first month). I have more than £200 a month to save and would like to put the excess in my existing cash ISA.

However, I note the virgin money help to buy says you cannot pay into a cash ISA and a help to buy ISA in the same year. I assume this means paying into existing ISAs as well as opening new ones.

Is this a rule of the help-to-buy scheme or is it just a virgin money rule? Are there any help-to-buy ISA providers that allow you to contribute to an existing cash ISA and a help-to-buy ISA in the same tax year?

As an aside, the split ISAs wouldn't be a good option for me as the rate I get on my current cash ISA is much higher than any of the split ISAs.

Thanks

deathtrap3000

Hi. I've had a quick look through this thread but its quite long. Im not sure if this question has been answered but are interest payments counted as part of the £200 per month? Barclay's pay interest per month and I didn't factor this in when transferring my money into the isa account. Thanks.

masonic

deathtrap3000 wrote: »

Hi. I've had a quick look through this thread but its quite long. Im not sure if this question has been answered but are interest payments counted as part of the £200 per month? Barclay's pay interest per month and I didn't factor this in when transferring my money into the isa account. Thanks.

Like all ISAs, interest paid within the ISA does not count towards subscription limits.

sharpinf

A question about contributing to a H2B ISA and a flexible Cash ISA

I've got an old now-flexible Cash ISA with Nationwide I hadn't contributed to in 2 years and a H2B ISA with Halifax.

Would it be allowed to withdraw all but £1 of the Cash ISA to put in high interest current accounts and replenish it before April 2017 whilst contributing to the H2B in the meantime?

This guidance condition 6.82 on p.g 7 seems to suggest it is allowed - but it'd be good to get official confirmation!

Thanks!

masonic

sharpinf wrote: »

Would it be allowed to withdraw all but £1 of the Cash ISA to put in high interest current accounts and replenish it before April 2017 whilst contributing to the H2B in the meantime?

Yes, that's fine to do that.

colsten

masonic wrote: »

Yes, that's fine to do that.

provided your ISA is flexible. You need to check the T&Cs.