Girlfriend has a Help to Buy.. I have a Lifetime ISA?

cthoma5

Will this eventually be a problem when buying a home together in the future?
Can bonuses be combined?


How would this work?


I'm after some general advice please and appreciate any input :-)


I realise a help to buy can be transferred into a Lifetime ISA, however - my girlfriend is keen on how the bank has marketed the Help To Buy with offering mortgage advice alongside, a presence on the high-street as opposed to the ISA being online based etc.


Thanks in advance!

eskbanker

It's fine for a couple to buy a first property together, with one using a HTB ISA and the other a LISA, provided that the purchase satisfies the requirements of both schemes, e.g. if buying outside London it would need to be within the HTB £250K limit rather than the LISA £450K one.

In terms of how it would work, at the time of buying each person would go through the defined process specified under each scheme to access a lump sum to use towards the purchase, so combining them shouldn't introduce any particular complexity, or is there something specific you're concerned about?

cthoma5

You're first sentence hit the nail on the head.


That is essentially all the reassurance I was after, to ensure we wouldn't be faced with any issues further down the line.


Some interesting considerations to think about regarding the requirements of the HTB scheme, these appear very restrictive!


Thank you very much.

Flobberchops

eskbanker wrote: »

It's fine for a couple to buy a first property together, with one using a HTB ISA and the other a LISA, provided that the purchase satisfies the requirements of both schemes,

I'm not sure that's correct.

If you have a Lifetime ISA and a Help to Buy ISA, you can only use the government bonus from one of them to buy your first home.

https://www.gov.uk/lifetime-isa

cthoma5

"If you have a Lifetime ISA and a HTB you can only use the government bonus from one of them to buy your first home."

Is this not referring to a scenario where an individual has both types of ISA, they would not be able to benefit from the government bonus from each of them when purchasing a property?

eskbanker

Flobberchops wrote: »

I'm not sure that's correct.

Your quote refers to the fact that an individual can't use the bonus from both HTB and LISA towards a first purchase.

There's nothing stopping a couple from using one of each, i.e. one uses HTB, the other uses a LISA.

cloud_dog

cthoma5 wrote: »

Some interesting considerations to think about regarding the requirements of the HTB scheme, these appear very restrictive!

Some HTB people have been transferring in to a LISA prior to purchasing a property to remove that. Obviously, you need to have had the LISA open for a year before using it to buy a property.

Flobberchops

eskbanker wrote: »

Your quote refers to the fact that an individual can't use the bonus from both HTB and LISA towards a first purchase.

In hindsight, yes, you're right. I could have sworn, though, that I heard there was a similar incompatibility preventing a couple using a combination of HTB and LISA, although my internet searching just now neither confirms nor denies it (instead I get a lot of articles clarifying that an individual can't use both). Do you happen to have a source that clarifies the situation?

cthoma5

A definitive answer in writing is what's lacking it seems, but neither is there mention to the contrary as you said

eskbanker

Flobberchops wrote: »

Do you happen to have a source that clarifies the situation?

cthoma5 wrote: »

A definitive answer in writing is what's lacking it seems, but neither is there mention to the contrary as you said

I've never seen any official HMRC/Treasury/Gov documents confirming this expressly, but they're all written on the basis that ISAs are only available to individuals and therefore what an individual does with their ISA is what needs to be defined, rather than how multiple savers/investors can or can't work together.

However, as with other financial product Ts & Cs, what isn't specified is often as significant as what is, and so if there was any rule prohibiting one person's LISA being used towards the same first-time property purchase as another's HTB ISA then I'm sure it would be explicitly stated in the official documentation!

As LISA was launched after HTB, it's unsurprising that the HTB scheme rules make no mention of them, but the LISA rules do specifically include

Investors can save into both types of ISA but they can only use the government bonus from one account to buy their first home.

and

LISA investors can [...] jointly buy a residential property with other purchasers, whether or not the other purchasers are also first time purchasers.

while investors must declare via their conveyancer

that they’ve not claimed a Help to Buy ISA government bonus for the same residential property purchase

The use of the generic plural pronoun 'they' is perhaps unhelpful when considering a joint purchase but there's no doubt in my mind that if there was any stipulation about a couple not using one product each then it would be included alongside at least one of these clauses....