Help to Buy ISA is now full shall I carry on using it to get good interest?

firsttimebuyer96

I've got just over £12,000 in my help to buy ISA. (the maximum for gov bonus).
I know I will be buying a house within the next few years so know the LISA option isn't for me.
However I will still want to save each month until I do purchase a house, so my question is - do I carry on using my HTB ISA with 2.25% interest and get the good interest or is there a better way in saving this money elsewhere? I know I won't get any more bonus on the money, but the interest just seems good...
Do you know if It's better to save this extra money elsewhere for the next year or so?
Thanks in advance!

wjr4

Why don’t you want to use a LISA? 

firsttimebuyer96

Because I know I'll be buying a house within the next year or so and my understanding is that I would only be able to transfer 4k per year into that? so if I do that I won't be able to get as much bonus as I would leaving it all in my HTB. I don't want to wait 3+ years to transfer all 12k. If that makes sense? If I knew about it when opening the HTB I would have probably done a LISA in the first place but too late now.

grumiofoundation

Depending on what you mean by ‘a few years’ by April 2022 you would be able to have paid 12000 into LISA which is the same amount as HTB (but allows higher purchase price and allows you to use for exchange deposit). 

There are a regular saver accounts paying more than 2.25% - if you have the appropriate current accounts HSBC, M and S and FD all have reg. savers paying 2.75%. 

firsttimebuyer96

Sorry I should have been a bit more clear. It will be mid-end of next year when I start to look seriously. I am already looking now but due to COVID-19 and partners work commitments it's been postponed. 

I'm with Lloyds and at the moment their savings aren't great. 

Silly question - if I keep on saving in my HTB and gain good interest I'll be able to use it all towards the house + £3k gov bonus?

wjr4

Ah ok, you said you were looking to move within the next few years, not the next year. 

masonic

firsttimebuyer96 said:

Silly question - if I keep on saving in my HTB and gain good interest I'll be able to use it all towards the house + £3k gov bonus?

You can continue using the HTB ISA for savings above £12k to benefit from the interest rate. When you come to close it to claim the bonus, you'll get the maximum £3k bonus which must be used towards completion of the property purchase, while you can do as you wish with the closing balance of the account.