LISA First time buyer query

GranpaChook

Hi all,

I am currently saving into a LISA with the aim of using it buy my first home. I currently live with my girlfriend and her brother who bought a house together in Sept 2017 so they have a joint mortgage and essentially I am a lodger so pay rent into their joint account.

I am aware that if my girlfriend and I were to buy our own place I can use my LISA despite her not being a first time buyer. My query was in regard to the possibility of buying into their current house (where I also live). Is it even possible to add someone onto a mortgage and if so how would it affect my LISA? Would I be able to use it to 'buy in' a piece of their property?

I am presuming not but I came up short on my search so thought I'd check with some clever people on here.

Thanks for reading and any insight you can provide!

eskbanker

To use your LISA to 'buy in' to their property, it would need to be structured as a properly-conveyanced sale and purchase transaction, so you formally end up on the deeds of the property as well as the mortgage, rather than just being added to the mortgage. While it's possible to do this, chances are that the fees involved would eat up a large chunk of the LISA bonus money, so it's unlikely to be particularly worthwhile....

GranpaChook

Ah, ok that makes sense.

Thanks very much for your help