Virgin Money Help to Buy ISA

masonic

SuperHans1 said:

masonic said:

SuperHans1 said:

I bought a property without using my HTB ISA as you couldn't get anything for under £250k in the South East. I still have my HTB ISA many years later as the interest rates have been better than most savings accounts. I still benefit from the higher interest but cannot use it to claim the government bonus.

I transferred my HTB ISA to Newcastle BS as they are currently paying 1.79% (https://www.newcastle.co.uk/savings/cash-isas/help-to-buy-isa). You do need to complete the transfer in branch (I did this whilst on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales) but the account can then be managed online afterwards.

You are presumably aware that you need to make a fraudulent declaration in order to transfer or continue paying into a HTB ISA if you are no longer eligible to hold one.

I'm still eligible to hold the account, I'm just not eligible to claim the bonus.

No, I'm afraid that is not the case. See excerpts from the scheme rules below, noting in particular clause 6.3: "...that each Help to Buy: ISA Holder must continue to satisfy those criteria in order to participate in the Help to Buy: ISA Scheme..."

You are required to reaffirm the declaration that you are an eligible customer each time that you transfer a HTB ISA and the first time each tax year that you pay into one, in addition to the annual reminder about the eligibility criteria. In particular, 4.7 (A) (vii) that you are not, and never have been, a Residential Property Owner.

SuperHans1

masonic said:

SuperHans1 said:

masonic said:

SuperHans1 said:

I bought a property without using my HTB ISA as you couldn't get anything for under £250k in the South East. I still have my HTB ISA many years later as the interest rates have been better than most savings accounts. I still benefit from the higher interest but cannot use it to claim the government bonus.

I transferred my HTB ISA to Newcastle BS as they are currently paying 1.79% (https://www.newcastle.co.uk/savings/cash-isas/help-to-buy-isa). You do need to complete the transfer in branch (I did this whilst on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales) but the account can then be managed online afterwards.

You are presumably aware that you need to make a fraudulent declaration in order to transfer or continue paying into a HTB ISA if you are no longer eligible to hold one.

I'm still eligible to hold the account, I'm just not eligible to claim the bonus.

No, I'm afraid that is not the case. See excerpts from the scheme rules below, noting in particular clause 6.3: "...that each Help to Buy: ISA Holder must continue to satisfy those criteria in order to participate in the Help to Buy: ISA Scheme..."

You are required to reaffirm the declaration that you are an eligible customer each time that you transfer a HTB ISA and the first time each tax year that you pay into one, in addition to the annual reminder about the eligibility criteria. In particular, 4.7 (A) (vii) that you are not, and never have been, a Residential Property Owner.

After I bought my property I checked with the Halifax with whom I held the HTB ISA at the time and they confirmed that I did not need to close the account and can continue to make deposits. When I transferred my account to Newcastle BS I was honest with them and said that I owned a property, they confirmed that I can transfer and use the account for savings.

With regard to your response, I would say that section 4.7 only relates to the initial qualification for opening a HTB ISA account.

Section 6.3 refers to communications to remind users of qualification for the bonus scheme which I am fully aware I no longer qualify for.

As you had put some doubt in my head I have even checked with the HMRC today and they have confirmed I can continue to deposit and save in this account.

I can understand why you thought that I would no longer be allowed to hold the account as the wording is not that clear for my scenario. I was trying to offer some helpful advice, I didn't expect someone to look up the rules and try to shoot me down suggesting that I had made a fraudulent declaration. Regardless, I now feel better having confirmed the rules with the HMRC in addition to Halifax and Newcastle BS.

masonic

SuperHans1 said:

masonic said:

SuperHans1 said:

masonic said:

SuperHans1 said:

I bought a property without using my HTB ISA as you couldn't get anything for under £250k in the South East. I still have my HTB ISA many years later as the interest rates have been better than most savings accounts. I still benefit from the higher interest but cannot use it to claim the government bonus.

I transferred my HTB ISA to Newcastle BS as they are currently paying 1.79% (https://www.newcastle.co.uk/savings/cash-isas/help-to-buy-isa). You do need to complete the transfer in branch (I did this whilst on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales) but the account can then be managed online afterwards.

You are presumably aware that you need to make a fraudulent declaration in order to transfer or continue paying into a HTB ISA if you are no longer eligible to hold one.

I'm still eligible to hold the account, I'm just not eligible to claim the bonus.

No, I'm afraid that is not the case. See excerpts from the scheme rules below, noting in particular clause 6.3: "...that each Help to Buy: ISA Holder must continue to satisfy those criteria in order to participate in the Help to Buy: ISA Scheme..."

You are required to reaffirm the declaration that you are an eligible customer each time that you transfer a HTB ISA and the first time each tax year that you pay into one, in addition to the annual reminder about the eligibility criteria. In particular, 4.7 (A) (vii) that you are not, and never have been, a Residential Property Owner.

After I bought my property I checked with the Halifax with whom I held the HTB ISA at the time and they confirmed that I did not need to close the account and can continue to make deposits. When I transferred my account to Newcastle BS I was honest with them and said that I owned a property, they confirmed that I can transfer and use the account for savings.

With regard to your response, I would say that section 4.7 only relates to the initial qualification for opening a HTB ISA account.

Section 6.3 refers to communications to remind users of qualification for the bonus scheme which I am fully aware I no longer qualify for.

As you had put some doubt in my head I have even checked with the HMRC today and they have confirmed I can continue to deposit and save in this account.

I can understand why you thought that I would no longer be allowed to hold the account as the wording is not that clear for my scenario. I was trying to offer some helpful advice, I didn't expect someone to look up the rules and try to shoot me down suggesting that I had made a fraudulent declaration. Regardless, I now feel better having confirmed the rules with the HMRC in addition to Halifax and Newcastle BS.

It is good that you have looked into this and obtained statements from HMRC and your ISA manager regarding your continued use of the HTB ISA. This is an issue that has come up a number of times here, and I am not alone in understanding the rules to be quite clear that you are not eligible for the scheme once you become a homeowner, specifically that there is a continued requirement to satisfy the Eligible Customer criteria in rule 6.3. See, for example the replies following mine in this thread. In addition, it was also discussed at length by others here. Whilst I maintain that the scheme rules are clear on this point, and the advice you've obtained is not consistent with those written rules, you have covered yourself against any comeback.

I make the following comments not to criticise you or those to whom you have spoken, but merely to help you to understand my position that a fraudulent declaration must be made if a homeowner applies for a new HTB ISA, even for the purposes of transferring an existing account.

Firstly, the prevailing special T&Cs on the Newcastle BS product (which can only be used for transfers) seem quite clear:

Secondly, the HTB ISA manager has an obligation under the scheme rules to obtain the following declaration from the customer when the product is applied for, starting with the following text:

You may have misinterpreted my warning about needing to make a fraudulent declaration as an accusation, but as you visited a branch it's entirely possible this was not made clear. However, it would be surprising if Newcastle BS did not collect such a signed statement from you when the account was opened, whether or not there was a clear understanding of the declaration being made. It would be surprising because, "An Eligible ISA Manager shall not open a Help to Buy: ISA for an individual without first obtaining an Eligible Customer Declaration from that individual" and "Each Eligible ISA Manager shall retain each Eligible Customer Declaration for at least seven years from the date that the Eligible Customer Declaration is made, and shall, promptly upon a request made by the Administrator, provide a copy of any Eligible Customer Declaration to the Administrator".

Hence the need to raise these points so that there is no misunderstanding about the letter of the rules. Any homeowner considering following your lead would be well advised to take the steps you have taken to get agreement from the relevant parties.