Did you know that you can use your Lifetime ISA towards the purchase of your first house? At O’Reilly Stewart we have experience in dealing with the Lifetime ISA providers on behalf of our First Time Buyers.
The Lifetime ISA is a longer-term tax free savings account which gives you a government bonus of 25% of the money you put in, up to a maximum bonus of £1,000 a year. You can save up to £4,000 a year into a Lifetime ISA. Your bonus is added to your account by your bank or building society.
You can withdraw funds from your Lifetime Isa to use towards your new home provided the value of your first home is below £450,000. You must also be buying your first home with a mortgage and using a solicitor to act on your behalf.
Your Lifetime ISA must be open for at least 12 months before you can withdraw funds for your first home.
The procedure of drawdown of a Lifetime ISA differs from the Help to Buy ISA in that there is a 30 day turnaround by your lender on the release of funds therefore it is important that you advise your solicitor early on that you have a Lifetime ISA as opposed to a Help to Buy ISA so that they can tie this in with your completion date and avoid any delays.
Upon drawdown of your ISA you can choose to withdraw the amount you hold in full or leave money in the ISA and continue to save.
Please contact us directly if you have any queries in relation to your Lifetime ISA.