Looking at Help to Buy ISA's

dipika15

Hi
My fixed term ISA is coming to an end soon. I'm not sure which HTB would be best as I want to start saving for a house. Also I don't understand how you can have a cash ISA and HTB ISA in the same tax year.

Thanks

masonic

Have you considered using a LISA instead? The limit for a HTB ISA is lower, so if you are more than a year away from buying a LISA might be a better option.

You can pay into a cash ISA and HTB ISA in the same tax year only if they are treated as the same ISA by the provider - Nationwide does this. Otherwise, there is no problem holding a cash ISA from a previous tax year, but you cannot pay into a different cash ISA if you are paying into a HTB ISA.

Paying into both a LISA and a cash ISA is fine, since they are different ISA types.

isasmurf

You can only save in a cash and HTB ISA in the same year if it is one of the few providers that offer the ability to split your allowance across multiple ISAs with them.

To get technical, this is acceptable because the ISA isn't the account, it is a "wrapper" that holds one or more accounts. Unfortunately most banks/building societies don't have systems set up to allow you to split your allowance across multiple accounts.

darkidoe

Also worth looking into how much the property you might be getting is worth. Total property price has to be under 250K (450K in London). In some places, especially London, HTB is no use at all.

dipika15

I have looked into LISA's but there aren't many to choose from.