Help-to-buy ISA Bonus & Remortgage

mshrwh

Hello,
My question is am I eligible for my Help-To-Buy ISA bonus - the 25% from the Government, if my first mortgage is actually a remortgage? We are planning to remortgage the house my boyfriend currently owns in both of our names - so it will still be my 1st house and 1st mortgage.

I am aware of all the rules regarding what you can use this bonus for but have read the guide on this site, searched the internet and called both my bank and the money advice service and no-one seems to know the answer to this question.

Any advice/answers would be much appreciated.

Rich2808

It's for first time buyers - you need to physically buy a property to qualify. It's your conveyancer that claims the money,

bowlhead99

No reason you can't use the bonus money to help you buy your share of the property from your boyfriend if you have never owned an interest in any property before and you will be using a mortgage to help you buy your interest in the property and you are going to live in it.

Of course, the property has to meet the criteria to be eligible, for example it has to be below £250k of value, or £450k in London. That's the whole house not just your share of it - because in the scheme rules it defines as purchase price:

in connection with the acquisition of an interest in land by a person who as a result of the acquisition becomes a joint owner of the land with another person who previously owned the land, the market value of the whole of the land as determined at the time of the acquisition

That's just one of the definitions of purchase price which are explained in the rules for different situations, but this particular one matches your situation i.e. you will be buying a piece of the property from the old owner (your boyf) and as a result of the acquisition you will jointly own the property with that previous owner (your boyf).

[don't worry about it saying 'land', the definition of an 'eligible interest in land' is just defined as something freehold or leasehold or commonhold registered at land registry and having a dwelling on it]

So if you were planning to convince your lender that the place is worth more than £250k/£450k, to get a cheaper mortgage by having a better loan-to-value, you would disqualify yourself from being able to use your bonus in what you paid to your boyfriend for your share of the property. You can get a proper independent valuation.

As Rich 2808 mentions, it is your solicitor who arranges the transfer of ownership of your boyfriend's property to you and your boyfriend, who would claim the funds. The solicitor putting together the relevant forms and declarations and getting the bonus for you would lower the overall mortgage required.

*note - the solicitor dealing with you becoming an owner of the property is the one who will tell you whether you can use the scheme bonus, as they are the ones who claim it; your ISA manager or Money Advice Service have less of a vested interest in getting this right. So, take your advice from the solicitor who you're paying, and not from others (such as people on MSE - the above is only theoretical not guaranteed correct!)