Lifetime ISAs guide

masonic

chrisjack2099 said:

Hi, I have a question about the stipulation of never having owned a property. Both myself and my partner have opened a Lisa each and intend to combine them when buying our first home. The only snag is that we do already jointly own a piece of land. It is non-residential, essentially it's agricultural, and there is no dwelling on the land, nor will there ever be due to planning law. We are both on the title deeds for the land and it is on the land registry. I wouldn't personally ever consider it as us having owned a "home" - the house we intend to buy with our Lisa will be our first an only home - but does it constitute "property" for the purposes of the Lisa T&C's? Does this disqualify us from using the Lisa?

Land that does not contain a dwelling is not considered a residential property for the purposes of LISA withdrawal eligibility, so you would not be considered to have already owned a property.

chrisjack2099

masonic said:

chrisjack2099 said:

Hi, I have a question about the stipulation of never having owned a property. Both myself and my partner have opened a Lisa each and intend to combine them when buying our first home. The only snag is that we do already jointly own a piece of land. It is non-residential, essentially it's agricultural, and there is no dwelling on the land, nor will there ever be due to planning law. We are both on the title deeds for the land and it is on the land registry. I wouldn't personally ever consider it as us having owned a "home" - the house we intend to buy with our Lisa will be our first an only home - but does it constitute "property" for the purposes of the Lisa T&C's? Does this disqualify us from using the Lisa?

Land that does not contain a dwelling is not considered a residential property for the purposes of LISA withdrawal eligibility, so you would not be considered to have already owned a property.

Cheers for that! Do you by any chance have a link to the T&C's where this is detailed? It would be good to have something on file for future reference.

masonic

chrisjack2099 said:

masonic said:

chrisjack2099 said:

Hi, I have a question about the stipulation of never having owned a property. Both myself and my partner have opened a Lisa each and intend to combine them when buying our first home. The only snag is that we do already jointly own a piece of land. It is non-residential, essentially it's agricultural, and there is no dwelling on the land, nor will there ever be due to planning law. We are both on the title deeds for the land and it is on the land registry. I wouldn't personally ever consider it as us having owned a "home" - the house we intend to buy with our Lisa will be our first an only home - but does it constitute "property" for the purposes of the Lisa T&C's? Does this disqualify us from using the Lisa?

Land that does not contain a dwelling is not considered a residential property for the purposes of LISA withdrawal eligibility, so you would not be considered to have already owned a property.

Cheers for that! Do you by any chance have a link to the T&C's where this is detailed? It would be good to have something on file for future reference.

See paragraph 7 of https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1870/schedule

“first-time buyer” means an account investor who is not, and never has been, a residential property owner

“residential property” means a legal interest in land which comprises a building that is used or suitable for use as a dwelling, or is in the process of being constructed or adapted for such use

chrisjack2099

fantastic, thanks!

CuriousConrad

I have a good amount in my existing LISA but the property values I'm looking at now exceed the limit of 450k. Has there been any further word on the withdrawal penalty being removed again, like it was during COVID?

I imagine there are plenty of people in the same boat as myself who would take a big hit if they withdrew their current holdings.

eskbanker

CuriousConrad said:

I have a good amount in my existing LISA but the property values I'm looking at now exceed the limit of 450k. Has there been any further word on the withdrawal penalty being removed again, like it was during COVID?

I imagine there are plenty of people in the same boat as myself who would take a big hit if they withdrew their current holdings.

Not aware of any such concession being considered again - if it was going to be done then last month's budget would have been the obvious occasion to announce anything.

masonic

CuriousConrad said:

I have a good amount in my existing LISA but the property values I'm looking at now exceed the limit of 450k. Has there been any further word on the withdrawal penalty being removed again, like it was during COVID?

I imagine there are plenty of people in the same boat as myself who would take a big hit if they withdrew their current holdings.

I think you've got more chance of those property prices falling back below the £450k limit than there is of any such concession being made in the short term. During Covid, the 25% penalty was reduced to 20% so that the net loss on withdrawal was reduced from 6.25% to 0%. It doesn't seem like much to ask where someone otherwise met all of the other criteria. However, it probably wouldn't win enough political capital to be adopted as a policy.

sequin12

Hi, I used my saving in my Lisa towards an exchange deposit on a new build.

Am I able to contribute to the Lisa again for this tax year, and use the savings towards completion?

I have £8k in a savings account, and am thinking I could put £4k in my LISA, and claim the bonus for remainder of the deposit on completion. Completion is estimated for end of may.

masonic

sequin12 said:

Hi, I used my saving in my Lisa towards an exchange deposit on a new build.

Am I able to contribute to the Lisa again for this tax year, and use the savings towards completion?

I have £8k in a savings account, and am thinking I could put £4k in my LISA, and claim the bonus for remainder of the deposit on completion. Completion is estimated for end of may.

Yes, you are permitted to make multiple penalty free withdrawals between the initial deposit and completion as long as they are all used to cover the purchase price. However, we are in the 6th April - 5th May bonus claim period, so you might not actually receive the bonus in time for completion. If not, then you'd have the choice of retaining your LISA and using for retirement, or accepting a £750 bonus after early withdrawal to use as you wish.

sequin12

masonic said:

sequin12 said:

Hi, I used my saving in my Lisa towards an exchange deposit on a new build.

Am I able to contribute to the Lisa again for this tax year, and use the savings towards completion?

I have £8k in a savings account, and am thinking I could put £4k in my LISA, and claim the bonus for remainder of the deposit on completion. Completion is estimated for end of may.

Yes, you are permitted to make multiple penalty free withdrawals between the initial deposit and completion as long as they are all used to cover the purchase price. However, we are in the 6th April - 5th May bonus claim period, so you might not actually receive the bonus in time for completion. If not, then you'd have the choice of retaining your LISA and using for retirement, or accepting a £750 bonus after early withdrawal to use as you wish.

Thank you,

Are you saying the bonus has to be paid into the LISA account before completion?