Lifetime ISA question

db098

Hi there,

A quick (hopefully!) question regarding Lifetime ISAs.

If I was buying a property with my partner (we are married, both first time buyers) but I was not included on the mortgage, would I be able to use my Lifetime ISA towards the deposit and get the government bonus?

The key LISA criteria that may not be met is:

- you are buying a legal interest in land in England or Wales with a view to the investor becoming a residential property owner

I was wondering if by being married to someone buying, I would have a 'legal interest in land'? Or is there any other reason/method I may be able to use my LISA?

Thanks!

diggingdude

I would be surprised if you could but happy to be corrected

db098

I am hoping someone will correct you!

SunnyCat

What do you mean by buying a property with your partner? Are you not getting a joint mortgage, only your partner is? Will the house be in both your names? I'm not sure where this criteria you quoted came from, but this is from the gove website:

The home you buy must:

be in the UK
have a price of £450,000 or less
be the only home you will own
be where you intend to live
be purchased with a mortgage

db098

What do you mean by buying a property with your partner? Are you not getting a joint mortgage, only your partner is? Will the house be in both your names? I'm not sure where this criteria you quoted came from, but this is from the gove website:

We are currently trying to buy our first property. It has turned out that we can borrow more by me not being on the mortgage as I'm not working and just looking after our kid.

I'm not sure if it is then possible to have both names on the property deeds. I gather, from reading around, that this is difficult to do. But I don't mind not having my name on, I would just like to use my Lifetime ISA for the deposit (if possible).

The criteria is from the lifetime ISA Conveyancer Guidelines (I can't post links).

SunnyCat

Ok, thank you for explaining. It sounds like in this situation you (single, not plural) are not buying a property, but your partner is. Therefore it is unlikely that you would be able to use your LISA towards this purchase.

db098 wrote: »

But I don't mind not having my name on

This is of course entirely your decision, but generally, to protect your interests in the future, I would suggest that you should have your name on your joint property. You just never know what situation you may find yourself in one day.

db098

SunnyCat wrote: »

This is of course entirely your decision, but generally, to protect your interests in the future, I would suggest that you should have your name on your joint property. You just never know what situation you may find yourself in one day.

Of course, best case scenario is both our names are on the property. But I don't see how I can have my name on the property if I am not on the mortgage (and having me on the mortgage makes what we need to borrow unaffordable, unfortunately).