H2B ISA vs. LISA

TimothyOrSomething

Hello!

As it stands I have a help to buy ISA with Nationwide that has just over £12k in it, and I'm not thinking of buying a house within the next year or so. 

I've got a few questions that hopefully can be answered if that's okay:
Should I open a LISA quick now and get 4k in this year and another 4k in next month?

The H2B ISA offers a £3k bonus if I have more than £12k in that account. Do I have to close out the whole account and transfer the money into another account in one go to get that, or is it lost if I end the H2B ISA before the account expires in 2029?

Should I leave the £12k in that account but stop paying into it, open a LISA, and just pay into that from now on, leaving it until 2029?

In the next tax year should I open an additional cash ISA after maxing out the LISA or is that not how it works?

Thank you all!!

eskbanker

You'd need to take a view on which of HTB or LISA makes more sense towards your first property purchase, as you can't use both - the answer is likely to depend on realistically when you're likely to buy and how much for.

If you're going to be buying before April 2026 and the property value is below £250K (or £450K in London) then you're likely to be best to stick with your HTB ISA, but otherwise LISA will probably make more sense.