Help to Buy ISA guide

eskbanker

kieran91 wrote: »

Thanks eskbanker. We have already had a mortgage offer of £150,000 and we would also like to use the extra cash for renovations/decoration, is the option of creating the £2,000 surplus not possible at all? Would the option have to be to reduce the amount in the ISA's to £6,400 which would rise to £8,000 on completion when the bonus is received, this way we could use the £1,600.

The point of the HTB ISA is to build up money to purchase the property with, i.e. it's not directly usable for ancillary costs beyond the purchase value itself. I can't think of any reason why withdrawing £1,600 from the HTB in advance wouldn't be possible for accessing a lump sum, but it does seem a shame to waste the extra £400 that the government would add! Do you not have anything else saved up for all the other costs associated with buying a house?

Ed-1

Nishjones9733 wrote: »

Hi please can anyone help. If the max you can put into a HTB ISA is 200 per month, it will take me 4 years to save the 12000 to get the max bonus, has anyone any tips on how to save more to shorten this time please ?

There's nothing you can do for a Help to Buy ISA but save in one that pays the highest interest as interest also counts for the bonus in a Help to Buy ISA.

Alternatively, if you're between 18 and 39, use a Lifetime ISA which can be used after a year and pays a bigger bonus (as more can be put in).

NiaS90

Once you close your HTB ISA and send over the statement to your solicitors for them to apply for the government bonus, how long do you have from closing the account and gaining the bonus?

eskbanker

NiaS90 wrote: »

Once you close your HTB ISA and send over the statement to your solicitors for them to apply for the government bonus, how long do you have from closing the account and gaining the bonus?

Depends exactly what you mean - the bonus needs to be claimed within a year of account closure, as per https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/help-to-buy-isa/faq/#199b24ea-e1f7-648f-8ce9-ff0000ad17aa:

How long after I close my account do I have before I need to claim my bonus?
You need to claim your bonus within 12 months of closing your account. You should not close your Help to Buy: ISA unless you are confident that you are about to buy a home.

Or if you mean how long does it take to get the bonus, it's at least 12 business days according to section 8.1 of the conveyancer guidelines at https://www.helptobuyisaadmin.org.uk/sites/default/files/conveyancer-guidelines-for-publication-nov-2016.pdf:

The time taken to close a Help to Buy: ISA account, together with the processing and payment time required by the Scheme Administrator will be at least 12 business days in most circumstances. Therefore, Eligible Conveyancers should commence the process with this timeframe in mind.

Edit: the 12 business days is actually broken down into 7 days to arrange account closure and 5 days from bonus request (by the conveyancer) to award.

xxdiddiexx

Can I close my HTP ISA and re-open another one in the same tax year? The statement "you can only pay into one ISA per year" is unclear. Surely if one has been closed and another opened, that this is "paying in to one ISA" only, as the other one is closed and therefore no longer exists?

Please help a confused FTB

eskbanker

xxdiddiexx wrote: »

Can I close my HTP ISA and re-open another one in the same tax year? The statement "you can only pay into one ISA per year" is unclear. Surely if one has been closed and another opened, that this is "paying in to one ISA" only, as the other one is closed and therefore no longer exists?

Please help a confused FTB

https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/help-to-buy-isa/faq/#919a24ea-e1f7-648f-8ce9-ff0000ad17aa:

If I close my account, can I open a new Help to Buy: ISA?
If you hold a Help to Buy: ISA, and close it without claiming your government bonus, you can open a new account in the following tax year (provided the new account is opened before 30 November 2019).

Snaaap

Does anyone know how likely it is that the HtB ISA house price limit will be adjusted, say, after periodic reviews of average house prices, etc.? I'm not asking if anyone knows what such adjustments might be, or when they might happen, but if it's even on the table. Can't find any information on this.

I have a HtB and might be looking to buy a house within the next 12 months, but it might have to be in the 250-300k range (Bristol prices, just had twins, etc.). This might make the HtB useless and a LISA no good either as the bonus wouldn't arrive in time. Hence the question.

Thanks

Ed-1

Snaaap wrote: »

Does anyone know how likely it is that the HtB ISA house price limit will be adjusted, say, after periodic reviews of average house prices, etc.? I'm not asking if anyone knows what such adjustments might be, or when they might happen, but if it's even on the table. Can't find any information on this.

I have a HtB and might be looking to buy a house within the next 12 months, but it might have to be in the 250-300k range (Bristol prices, just had twins, etc.). This might make the HtB useless and a LISA no good either as the bonus wouldn't arrive in time. Hence the question.

Thanks

As the Help to Buy ISA scheme is due to end for new accounts in November 2019 I don't think the caps will be reviewed. It's much more likely that LISA will change and if they do change the caps on LISA, they might also change them for existing H2B ISAs. No time soon though.

eskbanker

Snaaap wrote: »

I have a HtB and might be looking to buy a house within the next 12 months, but it might have to be in the 250-300k range (Bristol prices, just had twins, etc.). This might make the HtB useless and a LISA no good either as the bonus wouldn't arrive in time.

Since the LISA property value cap is £450K anywhere in the UK, you might wish to keep your options open by opening one now with a token amount to start the 12-month clock ticking (as recommended at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/lifetime-ISAs#property5), unless deferring your purchase past May 2018 is a complete non-negotiable.

Snaaap

Ed-1 wrote: »

As the Help to Buy ISA scheme is due to end for new accounts in November 2019 I don't think the caps will be reviewed. [...]

eskbanker wrote: »

Since the LISA property value cap is £450K anywhere in the UK, you might wish to keep your options open by opening one now with a token amount to start the 12-month clock ticking [...]

Thanks both. Ideally we want to be out of our current rented place by the end of this calendar year. I suppose even if caps reviews were on the table, there wouldn't be one before next year anyway. Oh well! I'll strongly consider a LISA just in case things slip. Plus, I've enjoyed a decent rate on my Halifax HtB so I don't feel too hard done by (And finally, there's still a chance a house won't cost as much as I suspect!)