Help to Buy ISA guide

eskbanker

BazF wrote: »

Have to say how frustrated I am that after saving £7,000 in my Santander H2B ISA that Im now not entitled to any bonus because our house is £314,950 in West Sussex. Id like to see what house the person in government who decided the cap is £250K outside London as you cant get much for that other than a complete dive of a shoebox.

So frustrating!!

Too late for you now obviously but (a) that limit has been prominently published since the scheme was launched in 2015 and (b) if you'd opened a Lifetime ISA when they launched just over a year ago and transferred your HTB into it then you'd have been able to benefit from the equivalent 25% bonus on a property valued at up to £450K anywhere in the country....

ryandolan

Hi, I am looking at opening a help to buys isa but I will be joining my partners current mortgage before it expires but my name will be on the deed. Will this be ok to use for ?

sarah234

Does anyone know if I am allowed to get the Nationwide "Hlp To Buy ISA" AND the "Single Access ISA"

I know Martin mentions getting the "Help To Buy" and the "Easy Access ISA" from Nationwide together but he doesn't mention the "Single Access ISA" so does anyone know if this is allowed in the same tax year? The "Single Access ISA" has a better interest rate so I'd prefer that one as I won't be withdrawing the money during the year.

I can't see anything on the Nationwide page about what is or isn't allowed so I'm a bit worried about if it IS actually allowed or if things need to be done in a specific order.

I have not paid into any ISA in this tax year yet. Should I open the nationwide help to buy ISA first, put my £1,200 deposit in and then open the other ISA?

Alexland

Sarah,

It should be fine there is no particular sequence of account openings to worry about but check with them if you want to be extra sure and sleep at night.

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/support-articles/faqs/help-to-buy-isa-faqs#xtab:can-i-continue-to-subscribe

Can I continue to subscribe into my other Nationwide cash ISA products?

Yes, so long as the combined total of your cash ISA products including your Help to Buy: ISA held with Nationwide does not exceed the annual ISA allowance. This means that you can continue to subscribe to other Nationwide cash ISA products in the same tax year, in addition to your Help to Buy: ISA held with Nationwide.

Alex

sully1311

BazF wrote: »

Have to say how frustrated I am that after saving £7,000 in my Santander H2B ISA that Im now not entitled to any bonus because our house is £314,950 in West Sussex. Id like to see what house the person in government who decided the cap is £250K outside London as you cant get much for that other than a complete dive of a shoebox.

So frustrating!!

It was made clear that the purchase limit was 250k on HTB ISAs so why didn't you transfer your money into a LISA which has a 450k limit?

Don't mean this in a nasty way but the only person to blame here is yourself.

Alexland

ryandolan wrote: »

Hi, I am looking at opening a help to buys isa but I will be joining my partners current mortgage before it expires but my name will be on the deed. Will this be ok to use for ?

To claim the HTB ISA bonus you need to be acquiring an interest in the property formally using a pair of solicitors (one to represent each of you to avoid conflict of interest). It's your solicitors who claim the HTB bonus. You solicitors would also want to perform all the normal searches to avoid any future claim of negligence. Your solicitors would need to negotiate a contract with your partner's solicitors, etc. If you just add your name to the deeds and mortgage this would be insufficient. It has to be a proper transaction.

Frankly even if it was possible (and we haven't even considered how the mortgage company would feel about this type of transaction) the legal costs are likely to outweigh the bonus value.

Alex.

Rich2808

sully1311 wrote: »

It was made clear that the purchase limit was 250k on HTB ISAs so why didn't you transfer your money into a LISA which has a 450k limit?

Don't mean this in a nasty way but the only person to blame here is yourself.

That is a bit harsh.

The Government has created this problem by having too similar bonus schemes to support first time buyers which have different rules. Why they couldn't have introduced regulations to amend the HTB isa limit outside London to £450k is beyond me. It would have avoided this confusion.

GeorgeMarsh

Hi,

1 question...

in 2015 me and my now ex partner used the help to buy mortgage scheme to purchase a new build house. We're just about to sell the house and part ways and I'm looking to buy my own house in the not to distant future. Am i classed a first time buyer and eligible to take advantage of the Help to Buy ISA?

eskbanker

GeorgeMarsh wrote: »

in 2015 me and my now ex partner used the help to buy mortgage scheme to purchase a new build house. We're just about to sell the house and part ways and I'm looking to buy my own house in the not to distant future. Am i classed a first time buyer and eligible to take advantage of the Help to Buy ISA?

Not if you've already owned a property, no.

Zaphod42

I seem to remember a note on the HTB ISA guide earlier this year, when it covered the ability to transfer a HTB ISA to a Lifetime ISA and gain extra bonus money on 16/17 contributions, that if you transferred but then ended up wanting to buy a house within 17/18, you could still access that original HTB money penalty free?

It was part of an explainer about what choice to make if you didn't know for sure if you were buying within a year, because of course you can't use the LISA for 12 months. Does this ring a bell with anyone or did I dream it (would be a weird and very boring dream...)?