**************Available from 1 December 2015*****************
Halifax will be offering the market-leader on rate for the Help to Buy ISA.Halifax will offer its Help to Buy ISA at 4% AER from Tuesday.
Halifax has launched a table-topping Help to Buy Isa rate for first-time buyers looking to build a mortgage deposit.
Help to Buy ISAs are a no-brainer if you're saving for a deposit for an eligible home. It's a tax-free savings product in which the Government adds 25% on top of whatever you've saved
Anyone can get one, as long as you're a first-time buyer or plan to be in the future. You can open one anytime between 1 December 2015 and December 2019. A first-time buyer is someone who doesn't own (and hasn't ever owned) an interest in a residential property, either inside or outside the UK, whether it was bought or inherited.
The Help to Buy Isa has been created to provide a tax-free savings account for first-time buyers to save for deposit, boosted by a government bonus.
First-time buyers can save £200 each month and the government provides a 25 per cent bonus on the interest and contributions once the product is closed.
However, the bonus is set at a maximum of £3,000 so the maximum that can be saved to benefit from the bonus is £12,000.
So at the point you use the ISA to buy your first home, all the money you have put in and the interest will have 25% added to it, with two exceptions:
- You need to have at least £1,600 saved to get the bonus (so you'd get £400 extra).
- The most you'll get the bonus on is £12,000 (so a £3,000 bonus). If you have more than that, you can still use the ISA to save, you just won't get more than £3,000 on top.
Will update the link soon :)
Live 01/12 http://www.halifax.co.uk/isas/cash-isas/help-to-buy-isa/
- malkin94
Top comments
kharma45 to ngangekrubally
29 Nov 1530#19
Dat tin foil hat
DemonIT to bankerscum
29 Nov 1514#53
Nutter alert!
Also, you may have wanted to use a hyphen in your username. #justsayin
bankerscum
29 Nov 1512#30
help to buy = tories funding tories.
snack_attack to jdurler
30 Nov 1511#182
Honestly some of these questions just demonstrate what a poorly financially educated country we are. :confused:
It's an ISA. Of course it's tax free.
Well this is a help to buy ISA for FIRST time buyers. Having already bought a property, the next property you buy will be your SECOND property purchase. Based on that information (which you already knew), what do you think the answer is?
Mr Sime_Bardo deposits £1200 in the first month of his help to buy ISA account, followed by monthly payments of £200 until June 2016. Total = £2400. Add 4% to that and then a further 25%. Deduct £60 or thereabouts for the solicitor fee.
Repeat for Mrs Sime_Bardo.
I suspect you'll be better off.
One general point to add with regards to the Halifax offer, the 4% interest rate is variable. Expect an influx of several thousand customers over the next few weeks and I guarantee they'll reduce the rate within 6-12 months.
All comments (275)
fazered
29 Nov 154#1
I'm so happy about these. Just the right time. Just a couple of notes.
You can open the isa with a deposit of £1200. If you are able to save more than the £200 a month then it might best to get the £1200 the deposit together before opening.
House value maximum is £250,000 and £450,000 in London.
You can't add to a cash ISA and a Save To Buy in the same year.
It's a personal ISA so if you are a couple you can have one each and get a £6000 maximum but you'd be looking at 4.5 years of saving to get it and houses will be way more expensive by then.
sotomonkey to fazered
30 Nov 151#84
Houses way more expensive by then huh? You obviously haven't seen what's been happening to buy to let lately and the general sentiment toward buy to let by the Bank of England and the European Union Basel Committee on Banking Supervision . House prices will start falling around the end of 2017 in my opinion if the buy to let changes are anything to go by.
If you were cynical you'd say the government have timed the Help to Buy ISA to coincide with this as they know home owners are more likely to vote for them in future.
andyatkinson to fazered
30 Nov 15#161
Apparently with Nationwide you can have a help to buy isa and a save to buy isa and use the full 15k allowance in a year but both the isas are 2%
mcdexsta
29 Nov 15#2
Do you have to prove you are buying a house when you cash it in at the end of the plan? Ie could you just invest in it and not buy a property!
coralgough to mcdexsta
29 Nov 153#5
Yes, when you are ready you must close the ISA and produce the documents to your solicitor who will then claim the bonus for you. This bonus is not paid into your ISA. You could just invest in it if you want but you would only get your 4% interest and not the 25% bonus unless you are actually buying a home.
jwc061 to mcdexsta
29 Nov 152#24
Yes a conveyancer has to apply for the bonus amount when transacting on the property.
rohitmkiller to mcdexsta
29 Nov 15#70
no you can't as the money will be paid out to your lawyer/conveyance person when you buy your first property.
turntablez to mcdexsta
30 Nov 151#183
Dont be daft!
You will receive the money when you get a mortgage. You wont even see it.
DarrylJohn
29 Nov 15#3
Does the government top up need to be repaid if you deposit 12k? Also, do you need to use the help to buy housing scheme to use this? I'm not interested in the help to buy. I'd prefer to save more upfront.
coralgough
29 Nov 155#4
Please be aware the bonus does not get added to the ISA account itself, the solicitor you are using must apply for the bonus by producing the ISA closure confirmation.
the gooner to coralgough
29 Nov 157#7
Just to add the max a solicitor can charge for this service is £50 + VAT
ngangekrubally
29 Nov 158#6
Another scheme for the government to track your savings.....not me
Ashe to ngangekrubally
29 Nov 154#17
Yeah, much safer to keep your money under your mattress. :confused:
kharma45 to ngangekrubally
29 Nov 1530#19
Dat tin foil hat
barbiegirl to ngangekrubally
30 Nov 151#104
LOL. Because they really need a scheme to do that. They couldn't just check your bank account..
rakinmorjaria1 to ngangekrubally
30 Nov 15#109
I'll happily let them track my savings if they're paying me £3000 to do it.
pinkchick1987
29 Nov 151#8
Love this! Will be at the bank Tuesday, thanks :smiley:
m1chaels
29 Nov 15#9
Do the bank care if you are a ftb if you just want a 4% regular saver and don't care about the govt top up?
sammypants
29 Nov 15#10
Does anybody know how long i will have to keep for example £12K in the ISA for to get the full £3000?
coralgough to sammypants
29 Nov 155#15
You can save a maximum of £200 per month into your help to buy ISA in effect this should take you 5 years to save up the maximum but bare in mind you can start your ISA with a one off deposit of £1200 so this will take 6 months off the time it takes. hope this helps.
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Opening post
Halifax will be offering the market-leader on rate for the Help to Buy ISA.Halifax will offer its Help to Buy ISA at 4% AER from Tuesday.
Halifax has launched a table-topping Help to Buy Isa rate for first-time buyers looking to build a mortgage deposit.
Help to Buy ISAs are a no-brainer if you're saving for a deposit for an eligible home. It's a tax-free savings product in which the Government adds 25% on top of whatever you've saved
Anyone can get one, as long as you're a first-time buyer or plan to be in the future. You can open one anytime between 1 December 2015 and December 2019. A first-time buyer is someone who doesn't own (and hasn't ever owned) an interest in a residential property, either inside or outside the UK, whether it was bought or inherited.
The Help to Buy Isa has been created to provide a tax-free savings account for first-time buyers to save for deposit, boosted by a government bonus.
First-time buyers can save £200 each month and the government provides a 25 per cent bonus on the interest and contributions once the product is closed.
However, the bonus is set at a maximum of £3,000 so the maximum that can be saved to benefit from the bonus is £12,000.
How much government top-up you'll get
Amount in Help to Buy ISA - Bonus Added
£1,600 (the minimum to get bonus) - £400
£2,000 - £500
£3,000 - £750
£4,000 -£1,000
£5,000 - £1,250
£6,000 - £1,500
£7,000 - £1,750
£8,000 - £2,000
£9,000 - £2,250
£10,000 - £2,500
£11,000 - £2,750
£12,000 - £3,000
PLUS 4% Interest a year for the amount in the ISA
So at the point you use the ISA to buy your first home, all the money you have put in and the interest will have 25% added to it, with two exceptions:
- You need to have at least £1,600 saved to get the bonus (so you'd get £400 extra).
- The most you'll get the bonus on is £12,000 (so a £3,000 bonus). If you have more than that, you can still use the ISA to save, you just won't get more than £3,000 on top.
Will update the link soon :)
Live 01/12 http://www.halifax.co.uk/isas/cash-isas/help-to-buy-isa/
- malkin94
Top comments
Also, you may have wanted to use a hyphen in your username. #justsayin
It's an ISA. Of course it's tax free.
Well this is a help to buy ISA for FIRST time buyers. Having already bought a property, the next property you buy will be your SECOND property purchase. Based on that information (which you already knew), what do you think the answer is?
Mr Sime_Bardo deposits £1200 in the first month of his help to buy ISA account, followed by monthly payments of £200 until June 2016. Total = £2400. Add 4% to that and then a further 25%. Deduct £60 or thereabouts for the solicitor fee.
Repeat for Mrs Sime_Bardo.
I suspect you'll be better off.
One general point to add with regards to the Halifax offer, the 4% interest rate is variable. Expect an influx of several thousand customers over the next few weeks and I guarantee they'll reduce the rate within 6-12 months.
All comments (275)
You can open the isa with a deposit of £1200. If you are able to save more than the £200 a month then it might best to get the £1200 the deposit together before opening.
House value maximum is £250,000 and £450,000 in London.
You can't add to a cash ISA and a Save To Buy in the same year.
It's a personal ISA so if you are a couple you can have one each and get a £6000 maximum but you'd be looking at 4.5 years of saving to get it and houses will be way more expensive by then.
If you were cynical you'd say the government have timed the Help to Buy ISA to coincide with this as they know home owners are more likely to vote for them in future.
You will receive the money when you get a mortgage. You wont even see it.