Help to buy ISA process when buying?

ajp1309

Ok so we have had an offer accepted on a house.

How does the help to buy ISA work. The solicitor has said we need to close the account down and she will claim the bonus.

We are not sure when we will exchange or complete as there is some land that has to be sold before the house can be sold to us. I am thinking that if we are not going to exchange till August thats a bit extra money we can put in the ISA's.

So my question is how long does an ISA take to close and where does the money go once its closed?

Do we have to close it now as the solicitor is going to begin the searches and the mortgage offer is here?

Im very confused as you can see and not sure who to ask for advice.

Thanks in advance.

Blue_Cardinal

It's a pretty easy process. I went into the local branch and asked to close it. They did so there and then and gave me a letter to hand to my solicitor.

Like you, we waited as long as possible to claim the full allowance. As it was a new build, the developers allowed us to wait until the next month as well before exchanging, might be worth asking if you are in a similar position.

Just to let you know as well, there is a £50 charge per ISA to close it, which your solicitor will add to their fees.

spikyone

Blue_Cardinal wrote: »

Just to let you know as well, there is a £50 charge per ISA to close it, which your solicitor will add to their fees.

This isn't a charge to close the ISA. The £50 is a charge levied by the solicitor/conveyancer for their admin work in claiming the bonus; £50 is the level at which it is capped but they can choose to charge less than this, or nothing at all. Inevitably though, as we saw with tuition fees, if you tell people they can charge "up to £x", then everyone will charge £x.