If you are saving to buy your first home, save money into a Help to Buy: ISA and the government will boost your savings by 25%. So, for every £200 you save, receive a government bonus of £50. The maximum government bonus you can receive is £3,000.
The Help to Buy: ISA will be available from a range of banks and building societies.The accounts are available to each first time buyer, not each household. This means that if you are planning to buy with your partner, for example, you could receive a government bonus of up to £6,000 towards your first home. Put away up to £200 a month into your Help to Buy: ISA. To kickstart your account, in your first month, you can deposit a lump sum of up to £1,200.The minimum government bonus is £400, meaning that you need to have saved at least £1,600 into your Help to Buy: ISA before you can claim your bonus. The maximum government bonus you can receive is £3,000 – to receive that, you need to have saved £12,000.
When you are in the process of buying your first home, your solicitor or conveyancer will apply for your government bonus. Please check whether your solicitor or conveyancer is participating the Help to Buy: ISA scheme, as they will need to register with the scheme before they can apply for your bonus.
Find out if you’re eligible for a Help to Buy: ISA here
