Santander to close Help to Buy ISA applications early - MSE News

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Santander's Help to Buy ISAs will only be available to open until 28 November - two days before the official deadline...

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'Santander to close Help to Buy ISA applications early'

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Consumerist

A Santander spokesperson said: "To ensure that we are able to effectively meet the needs of our customers, we will be accepting applications for the Santander Help to Buy ISA completed by Thursday 28 November."
The bank has said that the decision was partly made to ensure that customers will receive a consistent level of service online and in its branches – many of which are closed on Saturdays, which 30 November falls on.

Have you ever heard such banking double talk in all your life ?

Why didn't they just say "because it's pay-day on Friday and we want to obstruct any chances to invest at the last minute."

MDMD

It will be interesting to see how fast they all start to chop the rates. My understanding is that as you won’t be able to transfer anymore (because you can’t open an account anywhere else) there’s no incentive for anyone to offer decent rates anymore.

eskbanker

Consumerist wrote: »

Have you ever heard such banking double talk in all your life ?

Why didn't they just say "because it's pay-day on Friday and we want to obstruct any chances to invest at the last minute."

Because that's not the reason perhaps?

They clearly state (at https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/savings-and-investments/isas/help-to-buy-isa) that accounts can be opened and then not funded until later on, so for anyone who hasn't managed to get one open in that tiny initial window of four years since the scheme was launched, they can do so at any point between now and close of play on the 28th, and fund it later, whether that's the 29th, 30th or another month altogether....

There is no minimum deposit. You can make an initial deposit of up to £1,200 in the first calendar month of funding and up to £200 per calendar month thereafter. For example, if you open the account in June and make your first deposit of £500 in August, you can pay another £700 until 31 August (totalling £1,200) and then pay a maximum of £200 a month thereafter.

Neil_Jones

MDMD wrote: »

It will be interesting to see how fast they all start to chop the rates. My understanding is that as you won’t be able to transfer anymore (because you can’t open an account anywhere else) there’s no incentive for anyone to offer decent rates anymore.

Yes you can actually:

https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/help-to-buy-isa/faq/#Can-I-open-a-new-Help-to-Buy-ISA-account-after-30-November-2019 wrote:

you must open your Help to Buy: ISA account before midnight 30 November 2019. However, if you have already opened a Help to Buy: ISA account, you can transfer it to a different provider after that date.

Probably no different to Cash ISAs that don't accept transfers in, except it'll be the other way round - can open if you have an existing pot to transfer.

MDMD

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Yes you can actually:



Probably no different to Cash ISAs that don't accept transfers in, except it'll be the other way round - can open if you have an existing pot to transfer.

Ah thank you - I suppose this does still depend on providers determining whether it is commercially worthwhile to offer an account.

Flobberchops

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Yes you can actually:

Interesting, but will it be that simple in practice? In order to transfer to a new provider, you first have to open an account with the new provider. If they say "sorry, that savings account is off sale", there's not much you could do to compel them to open one for you, is there?

Neil_Jones

Flobberchops wrote: »

Interesting, but will it be that simple in practice? In order to transfer to a new provider, you first have to open an account with the new provider. If they say "sorry, that savings account is off sale", there's not much you could do to compel them to open one for you, is there?

As I say I suspect it will be no different to opening a Cash ISA that you can't transfer into, just the other way round. Probably something like "This Help to Buy ISA requires you to open online, you must transfer all of your existing Help To Buy ISA from another provider within 30 days, this is the only way to fund your new account initially, regular H2B £200 monthly limit applies, any payments made before the transfer has completed will be returned. If a transfer request is not received and completed within 30 days we will close your account."

Flobberchops

Thanks for the reply, but is there any indication this is likely to be the case? I can see a lot of banks shrugging their shoulders and just saying "it's no longer on sale, HMRC has replaced this kind of ISA with LISA".



In comparison, is it still possible to open new CTFs to transfer an existing holding, or would somebody asking that just be directed towards a Junior ISA instead? I'm not trying to be snarky here, I honestly don't know what the situation is in either case.

Neil_Jones

Flobberchops wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, but is there any indication this is likely to be the case?

Considering the official website for this product seems to suggest it will be possible to switch, it may be up to the banks as to whether they continue to offer.

In comparison, is it still possible to open new CTFs to transfer an existing holding, or would somebody asking that just be directed towards a Junior ISA instead? I'm not trying to be snarky here, I honestly don't know what the situation is in either case.

Child Trust Funds were replaced in 2011 by the Junior ISA but if you still have one you can still swap them around, though that being said there isn't a lot of choice, this is the only provider still doing them:
https://www.skipton.co.uk/savings/childrens/child-trust-fund - note it says "you have an existing non-stakeholder Child Trust Fund with another provider [and] you'd like to transfer it to us".

Presumably it will be something similar with H2B, considering most banks weren't prepared to offer a LISA at all and nearly three years later most of the big names still don't look like they're going to offer them. Whereas H2B? Widely available and they're all going to expire in 2029 come what may.