Help to Buy ISA guide

Timcauser

Hi,
Do'es anyone know if you can use a help to buy ISA to purchase a council property where you get a discount from the council for each year you live in the property prior to purchase?
Thanks
Timcauser

michaels

jimjames wrote: »

I don't understand where you're looking if you think banks are not offering accounts paying 4% or more to other customers. All my savings are at 5%.

colsten wrote: »

You'd have to check the T&Cs of the HTB ISA you are thinking to take out.

However, it would be quite foolish to risk, or to actually commit, fraud for a product that doesn't pay as much AER as other products, and which also allow a lot more than £200/month to be deposited.

Of course there are better paying regular savers (FD, NW etc), but they only pay the high rate for the 12 month 'term' and then you get all the money back and have to reinvest where as this is a multi year deal so the sum you can get the 4% on gets bigger and bigger - possibly not even capped at the 12k you can get the govt mark up on.

Sure there are varoius accounts where you can get 3/4/5% on for poxy amounts, 2k here, 5k there, we have a few of those and 3 1-2-3s of which you can't get any more - if you have sensible amounts of money at 5% I would love to know where.

colsten

It's hardly a huge job to set up a new Regular Saver when the old one has matured. You should familiarise yourself with the drip-feeding technique and how it can boost your interest.

And it's a bit ironic that you complain about small amounts in current accounts when the HTB ISA has a monthly limit of £200.

colsten

Timcauser wrote: »

Hi,
Do'es anyone know if you can use a help to buy ISA to purchase a council property where you get a discount from the council for each year you live in the property prior to purchase?

Over and beyond the maximum purchase price, I haven't seen any restrictions on what kind of property you can buy. Have you check the link I posted earlier?

michaels

Yep but the whole point is it is not a 12 month deal so over a long period it can build up into a big pot paying 4% whereas the other regular savers all finish after 12 months and then it is back to having £0 at the higher rate.

jimjames

michaels wrote: »

Of course there are better paying regular savers (FD, NW etc), but they only pay the high rate for the 12 month 'term' and then you get all the money back and have to reinvest where as this is a multi year deal so the sum you can get the 4% on gets bigger and bigger - possibly not even capped at the 12k you can get the govt mark up on.

Your original post commented about banks not making an equivalent account available to all which is clearly not true. There are plenty of accounts that you can pay in £200 per month and get 4% or more that match the HTB rates.

michaels wrote: »

Sure there are varoius accounts where you can get 3/4/5% on for poxy amounts, 2k here, 5k there, we have a few of those and 3 1-2-3s of which you can't get any more - if you have sensible amounts of money at 5% I would love to know where.

I guess it depends what you personally call sensible. I consider I have a sensible amount that will cover 6 months expenses as cash which is all at 5%, probably around £15k. All my remaining money is in S&S ISAs but I'm not saving to buy a property and I don't consider it sensible to hold all savings as cash long term.

michaels wrote: »

Yep but the whole point is it is not a 12 month deal so over a long period it can build up into a big pot paying 4% whereas the other regular savers all finish after 12 months and then it is back to having £0 at the higher rate.

I don't use regular savers, all my savings are in accounts paying 5%.

colsten

michaels wrote: »

Yep but the whole point is it is not a 12 month deal so over a long period it can build up into a big pot paying 4% whereas the other regular savers all finish after 12 months and then it is back to having £0 at the higher rate.

I don't know what you call a big pot, but if I can pay £1,550 a month into accounts that pay 5% and 6% interest, why would I instead pay £200 into an account that pays 4% if I am not a first time buyer?

So I can play with £18,600 versus a mere £3,400 in the first year.

Even with the need to re-start Regular Savers every 12 months, they easily beat the HTB ISA if you combine them with the right current accounts. Aside from that, you totally ignore that "You must be a first time buyer to open a Help to Buy: ISA account", as it says on the Halifax website.

fp1

Hi I wonder if someone could answer my stupid question! sorry! I've saved about £11,000 and want to open the Halifax ISA and am very confused. I'm looking to buy somewhere next year from March.

Can I open the Account with £9,000 or do i have to do it with the minimum amount? HELP what do i do? how much do i have to add a month to get the most out this ISA!! please can someone help me!!!! thank you!!!!

colsten

Did you read any of the guide? Or the FAQ?

AmyPood

Hi, looking for help - its quite confusing to understand what is/is not allowed. I have about £20k in an old ISA (Britannia, 1.1 i believe the rate is). I haven't opened a new cash ISA this year nor have I made any payments into the existing isa this year.

I want to open a HISA and i would ideally like to transfer my existing isa into another higher rate isa. I understand I can do this by opening the 2isas with nationwide (hisa + flexclusive isa as an existing current account holder) but from reading around the subject it looks like I cannot open the halifax HISA and say a nationwide isa (used soley to transfer existing balance, no new payments - all new payments into HISA) with any additional savings above £200 into regular savings ac.

Is my understanding correct? Any thoughts?

Thanks