Help to Buy ISA query

kingstreet

... and yes, if you want to, you can reduce the size of your mortgage.

richardwilson1984

How do you have £8,583 in a H2B ISA? I got one at the time it launched and I'm only on £4,000 - you can only put £200 in a month...?

stardust09

richardwilson1984 wrote: »

How do you have £8,583 in a H2B ISA? I got one at the time it launched and I'm only on £4,000 - you can only put £200 in a month...?

Ditto. That confused me too. It would have been impossible for you to pay in that much if you stuck the rules. I'm only expecting a £1000 bonus so far, approximately.

clur84

Sorry I should have mentioned both my husband and I have an isa each so that's the combined savings and bonus. We will close the isa in April to complete the purchase in may/june

nodtomc

Why close it before you need to? Close as late as possible to get the maximum bonus. Don't close it in April if you're not moving til June, that's £200 down the drain

clur84

nodtomc I think April is as far as we can go as completion will hopefully be may but max June. Solicitors letter states they need it closed 4 weeks before completion. I am seeing them on Wednesday so will double check.
We are buying a new build, ours is practically complete its others opposite were waiting till they are built and have roofs on

Zeni

Can I just clarify about the bonus, as several posters keep saying it can be used towards solicitors fees, that this is not true. Here is a quote from the Help to buy ISA website:

Receive bonus: when you are close to buying your first home, you will need to instruct your solicitor or conveyancer to apply for your government bonus. Once they receive the government bonus, it will be added to the money you are putting towards your first home. The bonus must be included with the funds consolidated at the completion of the property transaction. The bonus cannot be used for the deposit due at the exchange of contracts, to pay for solicitor’s, estate agent’s fees or any other indirect costs associated with buying a home. - See more at: https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/help-to-buy-isa/how-does-it-work/#sthash.26gbfiWI.dpuf

nodtomc

Not EXACTLY true, but it's really just semantics. You don't get it til completion, therefore you have to stump up the cash upfront, but you'll get it back when you get the bonus.

Nationwide "You give it to your conveyancer, and they claim your bonus for you, to be used towards the purchase of your property. You can’t claim the bonus in cash."

You have a pot of money for £X. You have a bonus worth £Y. £X is due at exchange. When you get the bonus, you'll get the difference between £X and £Y returned to you. Semantics

kingstreet

Zeni wrote: »

Can I just clarify about the bonus, as several posters keep saying it can be used towards solicitors fees, that this is not true. Here is a quote from the Help to buy ISA website:

The rules say it can't.

In practice, as I said earlier, it goes into the pool of purchase funds held by the solicitor and is used for whatever those funds are used for.

The bonus must be included with the funds consolidated at the completion of the property transaction

Believe me, it's being used for solicitor fees, stamp duty, etc. It's just not being explicitly used for that purpose.

Zeni

Oh Ok, I get what you mean. While you can not explicitly pay for the fees with the bonus it will be in the pot of money with the solicitor. My brother has just bought a house and was the one who corrected me on this as I had been under the impression it could be used for fees, but he told me his solicitor said it could not be used in that way. My plan to save enough to cover whatever, always better to have to much I suppose!