Help to Buy ISA guide

tashalove

Hello,
My fiance got a job offer abroad and we will be moving out there for a few years but we are planning to come back home in future and settle down i.e. buy a house. We both have HTB ISAs, does anyone know if we can still keep these open? I am assuming that if we are no longer UK taxpayers that we won't be allowed to make further contributions. Thank you.

YorkshireBoy

tashalove wrote: »

Hello,
My fiance got a job offer abroad and we will be moving out there for a few years but we are planning to come back home in future and settle down i.e. buy a house. We both have HTB ISAs, does anyone know if we can still keep these open? I am assuming that if we are no longer UK taxpayers that we won't be allowed to make further contributions. Thank you.

The ISA will remain open and continue to accrue interest, but you won't be able to subscribe whilst not a UK resident*, according to the Halifax ISA T&Cs. Who's your ISA with?

* Unless you're a Crown employee serving overseas (or married to/in a civil partnership with one)

tashalove

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The ISA will remain open and continue to accrue interest, but you won't be able to subscribe whilst not a UK resident*, according to the Halifax ISA T&Cs. Who's your ISA with?

* Unless you're a Crown employee serving overseas (or married to/in a civil partnership with one)

Thanks! It is with Halifax.

m4rkyj

NeedToPayTax wrote: »

weird i'm still getting 3.5% with Halifax (was 4%) I've had it over 12 months now because I just received my first years interest (was slightly under £100)

I'll have to check mine doesnt go down, 3.5% still the best out there so no need for me to switch

Hi there,
First post so hopefully I'm doing this quote thing right !
I too am still getting 3.5% with Halifax. Haven't checked it for a while as its all standing orders! When did it drop to 3.5 ? Did you get any sort of information that it was going to drop down ??
Cheers in advance ! :beer:

Ed-1

m4rkyj wrote: »

Hi there,
First post so hopefully I'm doing this quote thing right !
I too am still getting 3.5% with Halifax. Haven't checked it for a while as its all standing orders! When did it drop to 3.5 ? Did you get any sort of information that it was going to drop down ??
Cheers in advance ! :beer:

It dropped on 8th December. Account holders were informed by letter.

Chapuys

eskbanker wrote: »

Yes, they're wrong, tell them to read their own website (http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/savings/help-to-buy-isa/features-and-benefits) :

Definitely he was told wrong as I have the correct forms right in front of me.

El_Selb wrote: »

I went into a Nationwide branch, however, and they said I have to start again with the initial max £1200 deposit though, and I can't transfer my whole balance.

You need from Nationwide the Help to Buy ISA Transfer In form's SF307 and SF308. The image below is from the Nationwide "Cash ISA Your Guide" booklet.

dt192

I'm planning to buy a flat well outside London once I've saved enough, so will not be needing a mortgage. I see nothing on the gov page that mentions needing a mortgage, but it seems to be mentioned a lot on the page here.

So do is buying with a mortgage a requirement? Or just buying?

Many thanks

Edit: I found the answer, however I don't see the logic. Would it be an idea to start one anyway and transfer it to a Lifetime ISA or will those also be linked to mortgage? HSBC do a mortage for 10k with no fees and no early repayment charges, that may be an option.

To qualify for the government bonus, the property you are buying must:
be in the UK
have a purchase price of up to £250,000 (or up to £450,000 in London)
be the only home you will own
be where you intend on living
be purchased with a mortgage

eskbanker

dt192 wrote: »

I don't see the logic

It's intended to help first time buyers who'd otherwise struggle to round up enough for a deposit - if you have enough money to buy your first property with cash then the logic is that you don't need help from the government.

dt192 wrote: »

Would it be an idea to start one anyway and transfer it to a Lifetime ISA or will those also be linked to mortgage?

The same mortgage provision applies with LISAs, see the MSE LISA article linked from a few posts back.

[Deleted User]

Just to confirm I'm not going crazy.... transferring an existing H2BISA from one provider (Halifax) to another (Barclays) in excess of the 'initial subscription limit' (i.e. £2,200ish that's been built up over months) is acceptable!?

Barclays accepted the transfer, then transferred over £1,000 out to my current account and said I've exceeded the limit. After lots of talking with their savings team, they were just confirming what had happened....

I've now put a complaint in, and they want a month to investigate it..... surely it's a simple "oh yea, clearly our mistake..... we'll transfer the money back"?!?!

Ed-1

Somerset_La_La_La wrote: »

I've now put a complaint in, and they want a month to investigate it..... surely it's a simple "oh yea, clearly our mistake..... we'll transfer the money back"?!?!

As long as you requested Barclays to do the formal ISA transfer and didn't transfer the funds across yourself then yes, they should re-credit it and backdate interest as a minimum, plus a bit of inconvenience compo perhaps.