Lifetime ISAs guide

realaledrinker

Got a letter today From Skipton refusing a £250 contribution to my LISA saying it would take me over the £4,000 limit. Considering that I have only last month moved my HTB ISA from Halifax value £5,600-ish this is nonsense. I put on the application form that my year to date HTB contribution was £1,800. There is no way a HTB ISA could bust the £4,000 limit as they have a max contribution of £200/month. Secure message sent and I await a response.

Alexland

realaledrinker wrote: »

Got a letter today From Skipton refusing a £250 contribution to my LISA saying it would take me over the £4,000 limit. Considering that I have only last month moved my HTB ISA from Halifax value £5,600-ish this is nonsense. I put on the application form that my year to date HTB contribution was £1,800. There is no way a HTB ISA could bust the £4,000 limit as they have a max contribution of £200/month. Secure message sent and I await a response.

Yes assuming you have made no other contributions that sounds fine. Still it serves as a warning to others to get your final LISA contributions in early incase there are unexpected delays.

Buckets86

Hello,


I am looking to buy somewhere as soon as possible this year, and currently have a Santander HTB ISA and a Nutmeg LISA, opened in April 2017 with the minimum £100.


There are 2 things I'm unclear about at the moment:


1. Should I switch my Nutmeg S&S LISA to a Skipton Cash one now? Or is it not worth it for a few months? From what I've read above, this wouldn't 'stop the clock' which started when I opened the Nutmeg LISA. I obviously also need to transfer my HTB ISA in too (by the end of Feb if I switch to Skipton).
2. When should I start looking seriously/when can I realistically put in an offer on a property? From what I've read, the bonus won't be added until a few weeks after I've had the LISA open for a year, ie. mid/late April.


Thank you in advance!

Kami_J

Alexland wrote: »

'outside of London limits' - do you mean the property will be in London above £450k (in which case beware the LISA withdrawal penalty would apply) or the property will be outside London and between £250k and £450k in which case a LISA would be fine?

I suggest you read all the information on the Skipton website first then if you want to talk to them to check or confirm anything it's just the cost of an 0345 phone call. Their cutoff date for a HTB ISA transfer this year is the end of Feb but I would get it started early in case there are any unexpected delays.

Alex.

I meant it could be outside of London location wise, but under 450k instead of under 250k.

I will give Skipton a call tomorrow.

Buckets86

I have just discovered that Nutmeg are not accepting transfers from HTB ISAs so I have answered part of my own question!

bmod28

Hi,

Sorry if this has already been answered on the thread but when I searched I couldn't see any results that answered the following question:

I am transferring my HTB ISA balance into a Skipton LISA and I want to top up the contribution to 4k to get the maximum bonus this year.
My savings are currently in an ISA with Newcastle Building Society, can I transfer money from this ISA into the LISA? (it would be a partial transfer as my savings are greater than the LISA contribution limit)

Thanks in advance for any help and advice

eskbanker

bmod28 wrote: »

My savings are currently in an ISA with Newcastle Building Society, can I transfer money from this ISA into the LISA? (it would be a partial transfer as my savings are greater than the LISA contribution limit)

Yes (provided you keep all current year contributions together), see https://www.skipton.co.uk/savings/isas/lifetime-isa/faqs

lucycbell

Does anyone know whether my partner and I can buy a property together (both first time buyers) - if I have a Lifetime ISA and he has a Save to Buy ISA?

Alexland

lucycbell wrote: »

Does anyone know whether my partner and I can buy a property together (both first time buyers) - if I have a Lifetime ISA and he has a Save to Buy ISA?

Yes that's fine but would your partner not want either a LISA or HTB ISA to benefit from the 25% bonus? If he has contributed to the Save to Buy ISA this tax year he would need to have the HTB ISA with the same provider. Also remember LISAs need to be open 12 months before using them to buy a property without penalty.

Alex

lucycbell

Alexland wrote: »

Yes that's fine but would your partner not want either a LISA or HTB ISA to benefit from the 25% bonus? If he has contributed to the Save to Buy ISA this tax year he would need to have the HTB ISA with the same provider. Also remember LISAs need to be open 12 months before using them to buy a property without penalty.

Alex

Thanks Alex, he has Help to Buy ISA already but I want a LISA as you can save more money in it