Buying 1st House - Help to Buy/LISA/Other savings Advice

elldorado89

Hi all,

I have a question regarding the use of Help to Buy ISA savings with normal savings to put towards a house deposit.

I have savings in a standard savings account and also have a LISA/Help to Buy ISA open but neither of these have cash in yet. A house I like the look of is available in 1 year so, on paper, it would make sense to use a LISA as I can save more faster.

However, if I were to use the Help to Buy ISA would I be able to put this together with my normal savings to put towards a deposit? Or does the deposit amount have to only come from the help to buy ISA in order to be eligible for the bonus and government loan?

My thinking is that I could save the full deposit amount with the LISA in 1 year but I won't receive the government loan, whereas I can't save the full amount in 1 year with a help to buy ISA. But if I couple the help to buy with the normal savings I would have the full deposit amount and also have the government loan that comes with the help to buy (albeit with a smaller bonus than I would get with the LISA.)

Appreciate this may seem a little confusing, I'm struggling to properly explain it in writing! So if you have any questions please shout!

Thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

IIRC, the Help-to-Buy ISA and the Help-to-Buy equity loan scheme are completely separate and you don't need one to have the other?

rescynic

elldorado89 wrote: »

Hi all,

However, if I were to use the Help to Buy ISA would I be able to put this together with my normal savings to put towards a deposit? Or does the deposit amount have to only come from the help to buy ISA in order to be eligible for the bonus and government loan?

if I'm understanding the above correctly,

then yes you can combine the two (that's what we are doing) we have a sum in our H2B ISA (Which will be eligible for the bonus) and an amount in our normal savings which doesn't get any bonuses.

What happens is when you close the h2b isa you tell the bank which account to transfer the money too (we're putting it in with the rest of our deposit until the solicitors give us the nod to send it all onto them) they will give you a "Closing statement" which you give to your solicitor they apply for the bonus based on the amount stated in the closing statement then 10-15 days later they receive the bonus money from the government and should deduct this amount from what they ask you to transfer.

Hope this makes sense and helps you out.

datlex

Have different pots (even if just on paper)- 1 for solicitors/legal fees, 1 for moving costs and 1 for deposit.

diggingdude

if you use a lisa you could put £4k in now, get a bonus and then £4k in late april or whenever and get another bonus, Thats £2k bonus in a year. I would do that if house will take a year

pink_pirlie

You can use
H2B ISA and H2B equity loan, or
LISA and H2B equity loan

What you can't do is use the H2B ISA bonus and LISA towards your purchase

If you have more than 1 year until completion, the LISA allows you to get more government bonus in that time. Once you deposit the money you get the bonus the following month which is yours to keep. However you cannot withdraw the money penalty free unless you purchase your first house or you are 60.

Whereas the H2B LISA allows you to withdraw anytime, but if it's not for a first house purchase you don't get the bonus.