Important information regarding the Help to Buy: ISA
After November 30th 2019 you will no longer be able to open a Help to Buy: ISA, as it is being replaced with the Lifetime ISA (LISA). However, although you can save more with the LISA, the interest rate is much lower, since there are not a huge variety of banks which currently offer the LISA yet.
What is a Help to Buy: ISA?
If you are unsure of what a Help to buy: ISA really is, it can be described as a government scheme, which helps first time buyers get on the property ladder. The scheme can get you a government bonus of 25% of the balance held on the closure of your account. The bonus will be paid to your conveyancer when purchasing your first UK residential property, which you intend to live in. The Help to Buy: ISA has a limit on the bonus you can receive from the government. The maximum bonus is £3,000 on a balance of £12,000, and minimum of £400 on a balance of £1,600 per person. Please note that the bonus can only be used towards homes above £250,000 (or £450,000 in London).
Help to Buy: ISA requirements
You can open your Help to Buy: ISA if you are a UK resident, aged 16 or over, have a valid national insurance number and are a first time buyer; meaning you cannot have owned a property anywhere in the world before.
Where can you open a Help to Buy: ISA?
There are a number of banks and building societies that currently offer Help to Buy: ISA’s, these include; Barclays, Santander, Halifax, Natwest, Nationwide Building Society, etc.
Do you already have a Help to Buy: ISA account?
For those of you who already have a Help to Buy: ISA, this article is not completely irrelevant to you. Due to the introduction of the LISA, you will now only have until November 30th 2029 to keep saving, and until December 1st 2030 to claim your government bonus on your Help to Buy ISA account!
