Help to Buy ISA guide

colsten

The HTB ISA, like all other ISAs, is available to all UK residents.

Strummer22

fuzzgun19 wrote:

So Martin was wrong? He said on TV you don't have to buy a property to get the bonus.

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

Maybe I mis-understood what he said.
He says "If you don't use it for a house, it's still paying decent interest anyway", and "a lot of parents are doing it for 16yr olds."

Yes it does seem you mis-understood, he said "if you didn't use it for a deposit for a mortgage, you still get the interest." Not bonus. Sorry but the taxpayers aren't going to give you 25% more money just because you're eligible to be a first time buyer

Gmc427

Hello,

Im hoping someone may be able to share some light on an issue regarding a Help to Buy ISA and a buy-let.

I understand you cannot open a Help to Buy ISA if you are a previous home owner, which I am not. I also understand you can't open one and use the bonus for a buy-let mortgage.

My question is - what happens if I open one and in the next couple of years I buy a house on a buy-to let mortgage (with other funds that what's in the Help to Buy Account)? I presume I won't be able to get the 25% bonus at that point, but is it even legal for me to still have the account?

Thanks for your help!

Lozatron18

Hi There,

Great article, thanks for the help.

I would like to make the most of this help to buy ISA but my husband and I are moving to America for 2/3 years. I imagine we will return to the UK and continue renting for a further year or 2 before buying a house. Will living abroad affect my savings?

I would appreciate your help

Thanks

colsten

Gmc427 wrote: »

I presume I won't be able to get the 25% bonus at that point, but is it even legal for me to still have the account?

That question was essentially asked before, and answered around post #225.

colsten

Lozatron18 wrote: »

I would like to make the most of this help to buy ISA but my husband and I are moving to America for 2/3 years. I imagine we will return to the UK and continue renting for a further year or 2 before buying a house. Will living abroad affect my savings?

You are allowed to keep any existing ISA when you move abroad but unless you are in the Services/Government, you can not make any further subscriptions (= add new money) until you get back. You can add to existing non-ISA accounts as you like, but you are unlikely to be able to open any new accounts whilst you are abroad.

You may also have to pay US tax on your savings, including on ISAs - best to check the US tax rules, may be on an appropriate expat forum.

Saria

Hi all. I have been reading up on the HTB ISA and have opened one with Halifax. Now the thing is, I am confused about the whole "you can't have another ISA". I have an ISA with Lloyds which I opened in the previous tax year I think, however I have been paying money into it (still got an allowance of £12000 on it).

Have I done something that is not allowed? If I stop paying into that ISA now and only use the HTB, is that fine? Sorry if this has been answered, I tried reading through this thread but couldn't find the right answer on the first few pages!

Also, would I be better off taking my money out of the old ISA and opening a savings account somewhere? I looked at Club Lloyds but I don't earn enough to get rid of the fee, so not sure that one is worth it...

colsten

You are not allowed to subscribe to (= put new money into) an HTB ISA and to another cash ISA in the same financial year unless your ISAs are with one of the providers that offers split ISAs (Nationwide, Natwest, Aldermore, and one other one that escapes now).

This would have been pointed out to you during the application for the HTB ISA but since Halifax only can take your word, they couldn't reject your application. Once Halifax and Lloyds will submit their annual reports to the HMRC, your ISAs will be identified as having broken the rules and HMRC will be in touch. I have no idea whether they will just tell you not to ever do it again or whether they will void one of your ISAs. The ISA rules will allow them to do the latter but they may be lenient.

You can wait to get picked up sometime next year, or you can ring the HMRC ISA Helpline now and ask them for guidance.

The HTB ISA FAQ and Scheme Rules are here.

The Halifax HTB ISA T&Cs are here.

jimjames

If you don't have enough savings to make a club lloyds account worthwhile then there are other accounts such as tsb that will pay vastly more than your cash ISA. You can use other banks than lloyds for accounts.
If you've paid into an ISA since April 2015 then you can't take out a HTB ISA but you can transfer this year's money to it if you reduce the balance to £1200. That's probably a benefit to you as you can then put that in tsb and get 5% not whatever pittance lloyds pay on an ISA.

Saria

colsten wrote: »

You are not allowed to subscribe to (= put new money into) an HTB ISA and to another cash ISA in the same financial year unless your ISAs are with one of the providers that offers split ISAs (Nationwide, Natwest, Aldermore, and one other one that escapes now).

This would have been pointed out to you during the application for the HTB ISA but since Halifax only can take your word, they couldn't reject your application. Once Halifax and Lloyds will submit their annual reports to the HMRC, your ISAs will be identified as having broken the rules and HMRC will be in touch. I have no idea whether they will just tell you not to ever do it again or whether they will void one of your ISAs. The ISA rules will allow them to do the latter but they may be lenient..

The thing is when I signed up for the HTB, I think it only mentioned having opened an ISA this tax year, I didn't think it meant if I had put any money into an older one. :S

The HTB ISA FAQ you posted says this: If you paid into a cash ISA after 5 April 2015, to open a Help to Buy: ISA this tax year, you will have to transfer your active cash ISA to a Help to Buy: ISA.

So if I transfer my money, I should be fine?

jimjames wrote: »

If you don't have enough savings to make a club lloyds account worthwhile then there are other accounts such as tsb that will pay vastly more than your cash ISA. You can use other banks than lloyds for accounts.
If you've paid into an ISA since April 2015 then you can't take out a HTB ISA but you can transfer this year's money to it if you reduce the balance to £1200. That's probably a benefit to you as you can then put that in tsb and get 5% not whatever pittance lloyds pay on an ISA.

I have £9000 in savings so enough to get a decent interest on Club Lloyds, however I would have to pay the monthly fee (£5 I think) and I have no use for the cinema tickets (no Vue around here) or magazines...

I will look into other accounts then. I think the main reason I stuck with Lloyds is because it is annoying to have to change everything and they have a branch near me (other banks don't). But I need to save as much as possible so will look around!