Help To Buy ISA Bonus

firsttimebuyer15

Do you need to have put in your application to get the bonus prior to exchange or can it be done between exchange and completion? Getting rushed to exchange by the chain but my solicitor is saying we need to claim the bonus prior to exchange.

Tiglet2

It will depend on how many days there are between exchange and completion. The completion date is set when you exchange, so your solicitor has to be sure that they can obtain the bonus before you complete, otherwise it's lost.  Normally a solicitor will apply for the bonus following exchange, but there needs to be around 5 business working days for the bonus to be paid and the monies in the solicitors account before completion takes place.  There is an expedited process if the gap between exchange and completion is small. 

Have you closed your ISA and got the closing statement?

firsttimebuyer15

Tiglet2 said:

It will depend on how many days there are between exchange and completion. The completion date is set when you exchange, so your solicitor has to be sure that they can obtain the bonus before you complete, otherwise it's lost.  Normally a solicitor will apply for the bonus following exchange, but there needs to be around 5 business working days for the bonus to be paid and the monies in the solicitors account before completion takes place.  There is an expedited process if the gap between exchange and completion is small. 

Have you closed your ISA and got the closing statement?

I've closed the ISA but I haven't got the closing the statement yet. There should be enough time between exchange and completion so my preference would be to exchange and hope the bonus can be claimed -getting the house is more important than getting the bonus to me.