Help to Buy ISA bonus

remi_smith

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this question we have about the Help to Buy ISA bonus. It's taken me a while to figure out exactly what we can and can't use the bonus for but I'm still slightly confused about some parts of it. 

I can see that the Help to Buy ISA bonus can be used towards the deposit at completion (mortgage deposit). However we aren't necessarily relying on the bonus towards our 10% deposit (we have that saved without the bonus)

So my question is, what would we be able to use the Help to Buy ISA bonus for if we didn't use it towards the mortgage deposit?

I hope that makes sense, thanks in advance for any help  

Tiglet2

No, the HTB ISA bonus cannot be used towards the deposit on exchange, but it can be used (after the solicitor applies for and receives the bonus) towards the total completion monies.  

This is from the HTB website:

"when you are close to buying your first home, you will need to instruct your solicitor or conveyancer to apply for your government bonus. Once they receive the government bonus, it will be added to the money you are putting towards your first home. The bonus must be included with the funds consolidated at the completion of the property transaction. The bonus cannot be used for the deposit due at the exchange of contracts, to pay for solicitor’s, estate agent’s fees or any other indirect costs associated with buying a home."

hippocrates1

Basically your solicitor gets it on completion and it goes into the out money. The solicitor will probably ask you to provide the money for expenses as if your bonus wasnt there. Technically they should pay the bonus towards your mortgage almost like an overpayment. However in practice they may use it for fees/ return it to you.

Lemonyrose13

Our conveyancer has told us they would like us to provide the full mortgage deposit and then they will refund us the amount that the h2b bonus covers. As far as I understand the bonus itself can only be used towards the mortgage deposit upon completion not the exchange deposit. Your conveyancer/solicitor should be able to explain it all to you in easy to understand terms. Our solicitor explained it far better than either of our banks and our mortgage broker did to me!