Help to Buy ISA guide

eskbanker

kittyjo82 wrote: »

ok so, I've paid £250 reservation fee. That the same as a home deposit? I get this money back. Deposit we need is £7,600. and with £3,100 coming from my dad and £3600 saved in two helptobuyisas, we should be able to use the £900 bonus towards the mortgage deposit then?.

Yes, if the £7,600 is the gap between your mortgage and the total purchase price then yes, your HTB ISA proceeds (including bonus) can be used towards this at the time of purchase completion.

hennerz

eskbanker wrote: »

Although I don't think they're defined terms in particularly common usage, they're being used to try to explain that the word 'deposit' by itself is too ambiguous when it comes to HTB ISAs.

A home deposit is what's paid in advance at exchange of contracts to secure a property.

A mortgage deposit is the difference between the total purchase price and the mortgage, i.e. the amount of equity a buyer is contributing to the purchase.

The HTB ISA bonus can be used towards the latter but not the former.

Thanks, could you give an example with some numbers please? I'm still a little confused!

eskbanker

hennerz wrote: »

Thanks, could you give an example with some numbers please? I'm still a little confused!

OK, let's go with a hypothetical scenario with the following assumptions:

£100K property value for ease of round numbers
75% mortgage available = £75K
5% home deposit payable on exchange of contracts = £5K

The buyer needs to stump up the £5K home deposit and needs to fund this from non HTB ISA savings, leaving a residual £95K payable on completion.

Of that £95K, £75K is coming from the mortgage lender so the buyer needs to obtain £20K 'mortgage deposit'. This is where the HTB ISA money comes in - just ahead of completion the buyer closes their HTB ISA and the proceeds plus the government bonus go towards that £20K.

The guide at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/buying-a-home-timeline may also be useful although again the word 'deposit' is used ambiguously there - in terms of the steps along the way, remember that the HTB ISA money is for use at steps 20-22 rather than 15/16....

AuldTam

Lilip wrote: »

Hi,
Just wanted to make everyone aware that in the small print it states you can not use just any solicitor to reclaim bonus. They have to be on a list of verified solicitors by government. This can up costs slightly if you had a particular solicitor in mind. This has happened to us so just wanted to make everyone aware xxx

Im ready to buy and have been told by two different solicitors today that they do not take on clients with Help to Buy ISA's. Ive been looking online for the last two hours trying to find a list of solicitors registered for Help to Buy ISA's and cant find anything. Otherwise I will have to work my way through the phonebook, its ridiculous!

Has anyone found a list?

AuldTam

brokengainz wrote: »

Hi

I've already claimed the gov. bonus so would be in a good position to answer most questions regarding the scheme. Just give me a shout.

How did you find a solicitor already registered for the Help to Buy ISA scheme?

MARTYM8`

AuldTam wrote: »

How did you find a solicitor already registered for the Help to Buy ISA scheme?

Wouldn’t it be really useful if the government/HMRC provided a website with a list of solicitors approved to claim the help to buy isa – with a postcode finder facility. That might encourage more solicitors to sign up – as not being registered will lose them business.

Most FTBs will just assume this is something they can do near the end of the process – and then find out its too late and they miss out.

eskbanker

Just been doing some searching and found this list of registered solicitors but with two caveats:

1. It's those who can deal with the HTB equity scheme rather than ISAs (but hopefully at least some overlap)
2. It only covers the Home Counties

....but it's a start!

NikkiT21

Slightly more complicated one...
My partner owns a property outright but will be remortgaging and I (as a first time buyer) will be going on the mortgage too. Can I use my help to buy isa bonus towards the 'deposit'?

hennerz

NikkiT21 wrote: »

Slightly more complicated one...
My partner owns a property outright but will be remortgaging and I (as a first time buyer) will be going on the mortgage too. Can I use my help to buy isa bonus towards the 'deposit'?

No, can't be used for remortgaging.

masonic

NikkiT21 wrote: »

Slightly more complicated one...
My partner owns a property outright but will be remortgaging and I (as a first time buyer) will be going on the mortgage too. Can I use my help to buy isa bonus towards the 'deposit'?

Not so complicated unfortunately. The transaction must involve the purchase of a property.