Help to buy ISA confusion

positiveR

Hello, newbie here and confused!!!

I've been paying the full £200 pm into a help to buy ISA since their introduction, in the vain hope I may one day have enough for a deposit/mortgage offer etc (I'm a Sagittarius, we're eternal optimists!) and it seemed a no-brainer; the equivalent of an extra £50 pm from the Government so when saving rates are so pants.
But now I'm wondering if it will work in my situation. I am due to receive a very small inheritance (the amount is irrelevant, beggars cant be choosers!). It will hopefully be enough to get me on the property ladder, as I'm not fussy where I live in the country as have no family/work commitments etc but anyway going off-topic.

The point is I will be a cash-buyer so how/when/will I be able to use the money in my ISA. Obviously I'm only ever going to be a FTB once so I need to use it now if I can. Or is it only available in conjunction with a mortgage, in which case I might well close the ISA down now and stick it in Premium Bonds?

Thank you for listening and I hope I've put this under the right heading. If not, please feel free to repost in the appropriate place (still working my way around the site)

mije1983

Straight from the horses mouth (also know as the HTB website):

Can I buy a property without a mortgage?

No. The property you are buying must be mortgaged in order to be eligible for the government bonus.

The thinking is if you have enough money to buy without a mortgage, you are not going to struggle to buy so won't require the bonus.

I believe you can still save into it and get whatever is the interest rate from the bank/building society though.

positiveR

So I might aswell plough it into PBonds? or is there not a new ISA coming? Should have guessed it was too good to be true?

zagubov

You might want to investigate whether the new Lifetime ISA is appropriate. It's been mentioned in the Blogs and the News in the rest of this forum.

There are time and age traps in it though, so it needs careful thought.

marksoton

positiveR wrote: »

Hello, newbie here and confused!!!

I've been paying the full £200 pm into a help to buy ISA since their introduction, in the vain hope I may one day have enough for a deposit/mortgage offer etc (I'm a Sagittarius, we're eternal optimists!) and it seemed a no-brainer; the equivalent of an extra £50 pm from the Government so when saving rates are so pants.
But now I'm wondering if it will work in my situation. I am due to receive a very small inheritance (the amount is irrelevant, beggars cant be choosers!). It will hopefully be enough to get me on the property ladder, as I'm not fussy where I live in the country as have no family/work commitments etc but anyway going off-topic.

The point is I will be a cash-buyer so how/when/will I be able to use the money in my ISA. Obviously I'm only ever going to be a FTB once so I need to use it now if I can. Or is it only available in conjunction with a mortgage, in which case I might well close the ISA down now and stick it in Premium Bonds?

Thank you for listening and I hope I've put this under the right heading. If not, please feel free to repost in the appropriate place (still working my way around the site)

It's not from the government it's from taxpayers.

As your circumstances have changed and you are now a cash buyer it's hardly appropriate you are subsidised.

AnotherJoe

positiveR wrote: »

So I might aswell plough it into PBonds? or is there not a new ISA coming? Should have guessed it was too good to be true?

Check out LISA

positiveR

LISA has time traps so i don't think its going to fit. I'm with First Direct, and they have a great regular saver but again, 12 months locked in and things are very up in the air (i.e. no guarantees of what and when I'll get anything), so I know Martin says PBs are a waste but....??

AnotherJoe

What's a "time trap" ?

zagubov

Just means access the money's restricted for certain time periods, and you need to consider how it's useful at your age.