InvestmentsJul 27 2015

Treasury confirms six lenders to offer Help to Buy Isa

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Treasury confirms six lenders to offer Help to Buy Isa

The Treasury has confirms that six lenders have signed up to the Help to Buy Isa scheme, which will be available from 1 December 2015.

Nationwide, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest, Santander, and Virgin Money will all be offering the new Help to Buy Isa, the Treasury said.

In March, chancellor George Osborne announced the launch of a new Help to Buy Isa. With this scheme, the government will boost savings by 25 per cent.

The Help to Buy Isa is available only to first-time buyers. According to current government guidelines, savers can deposit up to £1,200 in the month they open the account and a further £200 in each subsequent month.

There is no minimum monthly deposit, however the accounts will give first-time buyers that save up to £200 a month towards their first home an uplift of £50 within the tax-relieved environment.

The accounts are limited to one per person rather than one per home, which enables those buying together to receive a bonus each.

The minimum bonus size is £400 per person, with the maximum being £3,000 per person. The bonus will be paid available on home purchases of up to £450,000 in London and up to £250,000 outside London and will be paid when a first home is bought.

Nationwide, which unveiled its Isa on the weekend, also claimed to be the only major savings provider that currently allows customers to choose more than one type of cash Isa product within their portfolio under a single Isa wrapper, up to the annual limit of £15,240.

Chris Rhodes, executive director for group retail at Nationwide, said: “Over the last four years we have demonstrated our commitment to first time buyers by lending more than £1bn through our low deposit Save to Buy mortgages; our involvement in the Help to Buy Isa scheme will strengthen that support.”

Steven Cooper, chief executive for personal banking at Barclays, said: “We are fully supportive of the government’s new initiative which will help even more people to secure their first mortgage and home.

“We look forward to launching our Help to Buy: Isa later this year, helping future home-owners to achieve their ambitions.”

Stephen Noakes, managing director for retail customer products at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “We welcome the support that the Help to Buy: Isa will offer first time buyers and believe it provides a genuine solution to the challenge of raising a deposit.

“We know that this is the key barrier when trying to buy a first home and the Help to Buy Isa will reward positive savings behaviour and make a real difference in helping young people get onto the property ladder faster. We are fully committed to providing this valuable assistance to our customers.”

peter.walker@ft.com