ISA Bonus Expiring due to Covid

bethltrew

Hello, 
Looking for advice.. we completed our exchange of contracts for our mortgage back in March 2020 and closed our Help to Buy ISA at this time. We were due to move into our new build in October 2020 but because of COVID-19 this has been postponed until April 2021. Because we closed our help to buy ISA back in March we apparently will not be able to claim the 25% bonus monies from the government as the Help to Buy account would have been closed more than 12 months ago (apparently your solicitors have only 12 months to claim the government bonus) and the bonus can only be claimed at completion. Because the house delay is due to COVID-19 is there no way this can be honoured? Had there been no delay/COVID we would be able to claim the bonus. I have spoken with the Bank, the solicitors and our mortgage advisor and they are all stumped and are not sure what can be done about it. 

TIA 

Aylesbury_Duck

If the closure cannot be reversed (and it sounds like it can't) then I would be onto the developer to get the completion date brought forward a month.  You have no leverage, though, which could present a problem, because you're committed to buying now and the developer knows that.  Can you complete in March and not actually move in, for example, and agree with the developer that the final works can carry on into April?  I can't see any other way round it.

Alexland

I would argue the property purchase has failed (to happen within the allowed time) and ask the conveyancer to give you a failure notice to enable you to request the HTB ISA manager reinstate the subscriptions so that you can then close the account again closer to needing the money.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-isa-subscriptions-for-your-investors#help-tb

Although at the start of the form it says it should be used after the bonus has been claimed but later at the end it gives the option of understanding it would not proceed before claiming the bonus. Still they might not be happy to sign the form if the purchase (from their perspective) will eventually complete especially as the form required the address of the failed purchase which would be the same as the eventual purchase. Still from an HTB ISA perspective it has failed and I can't see anything stopping you having a successful purchase after a failed purchase for the same address.

https://www.helptobuyisaadmin.org.uk/sites/default/files/Help to Buy ISA - Purchase Failure Notice.pdf

Either way your conveyancer should be guiding you on how to proceed but this reply might give you something to talk about with them and possibly get them to raise a clarification enquiry in writing to the HTB ISA scheme administrators to cover their backs in making the failure declaration and subsequent bonus claim.