Help To Buy ISA - Halifax

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Juniortopp
Juniortopp Posts: 26 Forumite
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in ISAs & tax-free savings
I have a help to buy isa and have been putting maximum payment pf £200 into it for 2 years every single month.
I have recently just had an offer accepted on a house and I get married next year also.
So we have a current account with wedding fund in it.

My query is this:
If I use my wedding fund (current account) to place as deposit, can myself and my partner keep our help to buy ISA opened and use it as my wedding fund as the interest rate is better on that account?

Thanks,
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  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 31,066 Forumite
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    If you don't use the HTB money towards the property purchase then you don't get the 25% government bonus, so it would seem self-defeating not to use it for the purpose it was designed and structured for!

    And no, a HTB ISA shouldn't be kept open once you've bought and are therefore no longer a first time buyer....
  • Juniortopp
    Juniortopp Posts: 26 Forumite
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    We used is as a saving account for the first purchase but heard that we are not allowed to use it for our property purchase as it's not a brand new built house.

    The house we are purchasing is 15 years old. Do you know if I can still use the help to buy?

    Thanks
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 31,066 Forumite
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    Juniortopp wrote: »
    We used is as a saving account for the first purchase but heard that we are not allowed to use it for our property purchase as it's not a brand new built house.

    The house we are purchasing is 15 years old. Do you know if I can still use the help to buy?
    I think you're confusing two entirely separate schemes, although both are unhelpfully called Help To Buy....

    The Help To Buy Equity Loan scheme is only available for new-build properties, but the Help To Buy ISA scheme has no such restriction.

    Details of both schemes are at https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/
  • Alexland
    Alexland Posts: 9,653 Forumite
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    edited 3 July 2018 at 12:07PM
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    HTB ISA bonuses can be claimed on any age of property so don't confuse it with the HTB equity loan scheme.
  • Juniortopp
    Juniortopp Posts: 26 Forumite
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    Thank you for all your help. Greatly appreciated.

    if we decide not to use the Help to buy cash isa scheme does this mean we can leave it as a savings pot for future or is it mandatory for it to be closed down?
  • Alexland
    Alexland Posts: 9,653 Forumite
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    If you own property you are not eligible to hold a HTB ISA so you would need to close the account.
  • Juniortopp
    Juniortopp Posts: 26 Forumite
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    argh OK

    So thats fine then ! need to start transferring to a fixed rate ISA for a year then to help with good interest % then.
  • Alexland
    Alexland Posts: 9,653 Forumite
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    I am still not quite sure why you are not using the HTB ISA to buy a property?

    Is the likely property value going to be over the limit?
  • sugarbabe84
    sugarbabe84 Posts: 259 Forumite
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    A Help To Buy ISA is not an ordinary ISA.

    It!!!8217;s an ISA to be used when buying a property.

    It has many strict criteria and you can not just simply claim the bonus. Read up on the process involved in claiming the bonus and make sure you are meeting all the right criteria.
  • Juniortopp
    Juniortopp Posts: 26 Forumite
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    Alexland wrote: »
    I am still not quite sure why you are not using the HTB ISA to buy a property?

    Is the likely property value going to be over the limit?
    No it wont be over limit - we have the 10% deposit made up for property value so dont see the benefit of using it.
    I believe with help to buy when / if we sell and the property is worth more than we bought it for - the government will look for a % of the sale. So we dont want to be tied into that type of contract.

    Can you confirm if thats true?

    Thanks,
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