Help to Buy ISA guide

Dribiddi

I've read a little about transferring amounts from a different isa to the help to buy one. Is this possible and if so could the transfer be for more than £200?

Apathy

Hi. Jist a quicl question. Looking to buy right now and house purchase could take around a few months to complete but im not a 1st time buyer but my partner is, just wondering which is the best isa to go for and to get the maximum amount if its evem possible or worth to open one now, im assuming it would be the barclays 2.27% htb isa and she has the funds to maximise which ever is best and im presuming the lifetime isa would be worth it as can only get the bonus after a year? Many thanks.

eskbanker

Dribiddi wrote: »

I've read a little about transferring amounts from a different isa to the help to buy one. Is this possible and if so could the transfer be for more than £200?

You'd need to check the terms of any HTB ISA you'd be interested in transferring into, but the limits of £200/month (plus £1K in month 1) are non-negotiable so transfers don't allow you to exceed those.

Have you considered a Lifetime ISA instead, as these have a higher (£4K) annual limit?

eskbanker

Apathy wrote: »

Hi. Jist a quicl question. Looking to buy right now and house purchase could take around a few months to complete but im not a 1st time buyer but my partner is, just wondering which is the best isa to go for and to get the maximum amount if its evem possible or worth to open one now, im assuming it would be the barclays 2.27% htb isa and she has the funds to maximise which ever is best and im presuming the lifetime isa would be worth it as can only get the bonus after a year? Many thanks.

You certainly have an apathetic approach to structuring sentences!

Anyway, yes, assuming you actually omitted a 'not' in your assessment of LISAs, HTB is better for an imminent purchase - if your partner started one this month and paid in the maximum amounts, she'd be eligible for the minimum (£400) bonus in August. As you say, the Barclays one comes out on top of interest-based best-buy evaluations such as http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-ISA#bestbuys

GMNN

Hello - havent been able to find the answer to my question below in the scheme ruled or thid forum..

I opened a Help to Buy ISA last year and recently had an offer accepted on a property in London over the 450,000 threshold so unfortunately wont be able to claim the Help to Buy ISA bonus. However its not clear to me when I actually have to close my Help to Buy ISA.. Is it before the exchange of contracts or before completion? Obviously would like to delay it as long as possible.

eskbanker

GMNN wrote: »

Hello - havent been able to find the answer to my question below in the scheme ruled or thid forum..

I opened a Help to Buy ISA last year and recently had an offer accepted on a property in London over the 450,000 threshold so unfortunately wont be able to claim the Help to Buy ISA bonus. However its not clear to me when I actually have to close my Help to Buy ISA.. Is it before the exchange of contracts or before completion? Obviously would like to delay it as long as possible.

You're in the same boat as the OP in this recent thread - I highlighted sections of the scheme rules that seem relevant but it's not 100% clear-cut....

mussonn

Simple question
Is the max property price going to go up?
As in London by 2030 £450k might not buy much

I am looking at 1 bed flats for £300k and that is now !!

eskbanker

mussonn wrote: »

Simple question
Is the max property price going to go up?
As in London by 2030 £450k might not buy much

I am looking at 1 bed flats for £300k and that is now !!

Simple answer: nobody knows!

There's certainly never been any commitment to index-link the limit or even (to the best of my knowledge) to review it periodically, so anything else would just be pure speculation.

Is your question entirely hypothetical or are you actually looking to buy in 2030? If the latter, then you may wish to consider other means of raising a deposit, such as investment products better suited to long-term growth than cash-based offerings....

mussonn

Many thanks
The 2030 is hypothetical but the minimum period to get the full 3k is about 4.5 years and that takes me to 2222.

Minihumph

Hi all - quick question.

The HTB ISA's limit is £250k - does anyone know if this goes up to £500k if two people with HTB ISAs buy a house together?

Many thanks!