Help to Buy ISA

Duncan135

Hi,

I have just recently purchased a house and made the mistake of not including the Help to Buy ISA as part of the deposit, despite closing the account. Is there a way of claiming it retrospively?

Thanks.

diggingdude

How did you manage that? I doubt there is sorry

Duncan135

Ok - thank you for the reply.

To be honest, I expected to be notified when it would be needed by the solicitor. I had also read a Telegraph article on why some people couldn’t use it as part of a deposit, which very stupidly, I took it as you would get it as a cash back style arrangement.

Pretty galling that there doesn’t seem to be an appeals process or grace period as with your own taxes you can underpay/overpay and it can be paid at a later date through a rebate.

SeanMcD317

I have a mortgage with my sister.
In October we will remortgage, however my sister will exit the mortgage and my partner will join the mortgage as part of a transfer of deeds.
Will my partner be able to use their Help to Buy Isa and be entitled to claim the government bonus? She will be a first time buyer in this instance, whereas I am not a first time buyer, only remortgaging my current property.

Thanks

FTBlalala

Hi OP, sorry to say that it is very unlikely you will be able to claim retrospectively. The H2B ISA info the bank should of given you when you opened the account is very clear it is on you the customer to get the full benefit and most solicitors (mine included) will have a clause in their T's & C's saying that they expect you to get your H2B ISA closing statement to them in good time before exchange (my solicitor asked for it at least a week before when we expected to exchange) so they have time to apply for the bonus on your behalf. From my research when I was buying and my own purchase solicitors charge about £50 fee per H2B ISA, was this on your completion statement??

Roo89

SeanMcD317 wrote: »

I have a mortgage with my sister.
In October we will remortgage, however my sister will exit the mortgage and my partner will join the mortgage as part of a transfer of deeds.
Will my partner be able to use their Help to Buy Isa and be entitled to claim the government bonus? She will be a first time buyer in this instance, whereas I am not a first time buyer, only remortgaging my current property.

Thanks

No the H2B bonus won't apply if your partner gets a joint mortgage with you, as you are not a FTB. In the case of a joint mortgage both parties need to be FTB's to qualify for the bonus.

SeanMcD317

I read Martin's Top 15 tips on the H2b which read:
It's an individual product, couples are treated separately
Help to Buy ISAs are for individuals, it's not about who's buying the house, it's simply about whether you're a first-time buyer. To make it plain:

If you're a first-time buyer, buying with someone who's owned before, you CAN open one, they CAN'T.

On that basis I was expecting my partner can claim the government bonus?
What do you think?

Roo89

SeanMcD317 wrote: »

I read Martin's Top 15 tips on the H2b which read:
It's an individual product, couples are treated separately
Help to Buy ISAs are for individuals, it's not about who's buying the house, it's simply about whether you're a first-time buyer. To make it plain:

If you're a first-time buyer, buying with someone who's owned before, you CAN open one, they CAN'T.

On that basis I was expecting my partner can claim the government bonus?
What do you think?

I can only go by what our solicitor said to us, although Martin and a few other sources I've researched today seem to contradict this.

The H2B bonus has to be claimed via a solicitor so it's probably best to check with your solicitor (if you have one) and they'll be able to confirm if your partner can claim the bonus or not.

FTBlalala

Based on info online and my sister's experience - On a purchase together yes, if one partner has owned before and the other an FTB the FTB can apply for the bonus with their H2B ISA.

BUT if you are only re-mortgaging an existing property you own and adding your partner they won't be able to claim. If you sold your house and bought a different house together, your partner could claim.

Hope this helps

SeanMcD317

Ok thanks that is helpful.
I will check with my solicitor.
You are right there does seem to be some contradictory content out there. Would be a shame if she couldnt use it.

Duncan135

My Closing Statement from the bank doesn’t make any reference to this.