Am I ‘first time buyer’ if I'm a beneficiary of a discretionary property trust?

Monsoon9

I've never owned my own home, and want to open a Help to Buy ISA. However, in 2005 my Father died, and two years later my Mother set up a Nil Rate Band Discretionary trust of which I am a trustee and a beneficiary.

An Instrument of Variation was applied to my Father’s will and the value of his half of the house was then transferred into the newly created Trust. The Trust then created a loan note / ‘deed of charge’ for my Mother, handing the whole asset in the Trust back to her in exchange. This means after her death, her estate will be required to hand the asset back to the Trust. In this way, inheritance tax liability is avoided on that proportion.

The house Title is (and always has been since the Trust was set up) solely in her name, and has never been in my name.

Looking at the Help to Buy ISA rules regarding trusts, is says the following:

“If you have or had an ongoing beneficial interest in a residential property via a trust, (including a trust created by a will or divorce), then you are not a first time buyer. However, you are still a first time buyer if:
(a) you are named as a beneficiary of residential property in the will of a person who is still living; or,
(b) if the trust to which you are or were a beneficiary was only created for the purpose of selling the property and other assets following a death or divorce, and the title of the residential property was never transferred to your name or to a trust which you are an ongoing beneficiary; or
(c) if you are only acting in a trustee role and will not be entitled as a beneficiary in the future, (and do not have any other interests in residential property).”

I wonder if I'm considered a first time buyer under point b, as the title of the property was never transferred into my name, and the Trust effectively ‘sold’ my Father’s half of the house (i.e. raised a Deed of Charge) to my Mother following his death. Can anyone confirm if this is the case, or does the reference to 'selling' in point b mean something else?


Thanks!