Help to Buy ISA – Deadline Approaching
The Help to Buy scheme launched on 1 December 2015.
The deadline for opening a Help to Buy ISA is 30 November 2019 with some lenders bringing forward their deadline date to 28 November 2019. This is therefore the last chance for homebuyers to obtain a 25% boost on their savings.
If you’re a first time buyer, you can save up to £200 a month towards your first home with a Help to Buy ISA and the government will boost your savings by 25%. That’s the equivalent of a £50 bonus for every £200 you save. You can receive a bonus of up to £3,000.
This means if you save £12,000, the government bonus will boost your total savings to £15,000. This is the maximum amount you can claim. The minimum bonus is £400, so you would need to save at least £1,600 to qualify.
The property you buy must be valued at less than £250,000 throughout the UK, or £450,000 in London.
The government bonus will be paid to your conveyancer on completion of the property purchase, which means it cannot be used towards your exchange deposit.
Although the scheme is set to close on 30 November 2019, this will have no effect on those who already have an account.
It costs only £1 to open an account and it is therefore recommended to any first time buyer who doesn’t have an account already, to open one with one of the many banks who offer the scheme.
Further information is available at :- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-to-buy-isa