Help to Buy ISA guide

Rich2808

Lady712 wrote: »

Hi,
Has any one tried to get their bonus on their HTB living outside of the main london boroughs, as my solicitor has just tried and has been told that the borough i am moving to (upminster) is not a london borough even though it comes under the london borough of havering.

Thanks

If the property is in Upminster itself then it is in the London borough of Havering as you say. So the £450k Help to buy isa cap on the property price applies - not the £250k cap. It may have an Essex address for postal purposes - but its the administrative boundaries that matter. - its in London. There are 32 London boroughs - Havering is just as much London as Camden or Islington in terms of local government boundaries.

You can identify which council area a property is in by typing the postcode in at this link.

https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council

PS Is it too late to get a new solicitor?!

thoragunnr

is it worth me waiting until I have £1,200 to deposit into the h2b account or just start with what I can afford?

I've only got £100.00 I know I can put away each much until January (I'd usually be able to deposit £200 or more depending on wages and things but splitting this to get Christmas sorted)

Rich2808

thoragunnr wrote: »

is it worth me waiting until I have £1,200 to deposit into the h2b account or just start with what I can afford?

I've only got £100.00 I know I can put away each much until January (I'd usually be able to deposit £200 or more depending on wages and things but splitting this to get Christmas sorted)

Have just replied in your separate thread.

If you can afford it it is best to put in the full £1200 in month one - as you can build up your bonus entitlement quicker.

But you can put in as much or as little as you can afford. It really depends how soon you want to buy - if its in a few months you ideally want to pay in the maximum in month 1 but if it won't be for a couple of years its less of an issue.

Futurnerd

This has been very insightful. I tried researching this for a while but kept coming by conflicting information, now I feel knowledgeable. However I have one burning question.
I read somewhere of late that the HTB scheme is no longer backed by the government monetarily but directly by private lenders.
Q: Can you please confirm if this is truly the case, and if it is how it could affect buyers. :beer:
Myself and my wife's are in our late 20s, we've been saving jointly with Halifax since the start of March 1000 monthly, so by next March we'll be at our 5% goal, though our aim is to buy by August 2018. Whilst finding out this information now I am clear that we can open the account and confirmed within 3 months. So we will aim to do this very soon if not by January.

Rich2808

Futurnerd wrote: »

This has been very insightful. I tried researching this for a while but kept coming by conflicting information, now I feel knowledgeable. However I have one burning question.
I read somewhere of late that the HTB scheme is no longer backed by the government monetarily but directly by private lenders.
Q: Can you please confirm if this is truly the case, and if it is how it could affect buyers. :beer:
Myself and my wife's are in our late 20s, we've been saving jointly with Halifax since the start of March 1000 monthly, so by next March we'll be at our 5% goal, though our aim is to buy by August 2018. Whilst finding out this information now I am clear that we can open the account and confirmed within 3 months. So we will aim to do this very soon if not by January.

You are confusing the help to buy ISA with help to buy equity schemes (e.g. the 20% interest free loan - 40% in London - for five years) and more particularly the help to buy mortgage guarantee.

The help to buy isa is an entirely government backed scheme - they pay the bonus. Halifax (and other banks and building societies) just operate the savings account to allow you to save up to get the bonus when you complete on your first property.

Ritienne

Hi,

Does anyone know if there are any plans of revising the cap on the help to buy isa property value? I work just outside London and looking at buying a 1-bedroom flat in the area (outside London boroughs) but most prices are over 250,000.

I have been saving into the htb isa for a few years and it would be very frustrating not to be eligible for the bonus. My lender said they can't do anything and it's because the scheme was introduced a few years ago and it hasn't been updated to reflect changes in the property market.

Any advice? Thanks.

Rich2808

Ritienne wrote: »

Hi,

Does anyone know if there are any plans of revising the cap on the help to buy isa property value? I work just outside London and looking at buying a 1-bedroom flat in the area (outside London boroughs) but most prices are over 250,000.

I have been saving into the htb isa for a few years and it would be very frustrating not to be eligible for the bonus. My lender said they can't do anything and it's because the scheme was introduced a few years ago and it hasn't been updated to reflect changes in the property market.

Any advice? Thanks.

I think its very unlikely. The lifetime ISA has a £450k limit outside London too - and I doubt they will revisit the HTB isa as its been in effect superseded by a more generous replacement (unless of course you are aged over 40).

Waggerz87

Hi
So to cut a long story short. I opened a htb isa then decided to open another one with my bank and saved towards buying a house. When the time came my solicitor said my claim had been rejected because as I had 2 htb isa accounts open they only use the 1 which was open first. Does anyone think this is wrong?

thebongoking

I'm hoping someone might be able to advise me on the below.

I have the Nationwide Split ISA (Cash ISA @ 0.5% interest and HTB ISA @ 1.5% interest). I have approx £4600 in the HTB ISA part and approx £15k in the Cash ISA part. I have only paid into the HTB ISA this tax year so the £15k balance is from previous years. I want to move these amounts to new ISA but because of the special "split" status of the Nationwide ISA I'm a bit confused as to how they are treated when transferring out.

Can I do the following:
> Transfer the HTB part to Barclays HTB ISA (2.27% interest) - they allow transfers in
> Transfer the Cash ISA part to a Coventry Building Society Cash ISA (1.1% interest) - they allow transfers in

I will only be paying ISA money into the HTB ISA for the rest of the tax year.

I already have 2 Tesco current accounts (3% interest), 1 TSB Classic Plus current account (3% interest) and 1 Nationwide Flexdirect current account (5% interest) with the maximum amounts in each and I don't have enough direct debits to satisfy opening a Santander, Bank of Scotland, Club Lloyds account hence me going for the Coventry Building Society Cash ISA option (best easy access option with flexibility).

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give!

badger09

As you have not paid anything into the Cash ISA part of your split ISA since 6th April 2017, then you can arrange for it to be transferred elsewhere, separately from the HTB part.

Effectively it became 'unsplit' on 5th April (unless you had continued to pay into both parts after that date).

Apologies, I've struggled with the wording, but HTH:o