Sunday 1 November 2015

They (want to) own land! Give them money!

From www.gov.uk:

Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest, Santander, and Virgin Money will be offering Help to Buy: ISAs from 1 December.

You will be able to put away up to £200 a month in the Help to Buy: ISA that the government will then top up by 25%, up to a maximum of £3,000…

You can only claim your bonus when you are buying a home – and the money has to go towards the deposit, so you can’t use it to pay your solicitor’s, estate agent’s fees or any other costs associated with buying a home.

8 comments:

Rich Tee said...

Whilst one should not turn one's nose up at free money, £3000 won't go very far unless there is a price crash soon.

Mark Wadsworth said...

RT, it's the principle, you can add this to Help to Buy and interest rates subsidies.

If I have to be fair, if the £3,000 bung is funded out of the slightly higher taxes on BTL landlords, then in net terms, it is a teeny step in the right direction but overall the two probably cancel out.

Lola said...

MW. It may well be funded from higher taxes on BtL landlords, but without any doubt the BtL landlord (by a higher selling price), or the lenders (by way of higher loan fees), or the the government (ny SDLT) will get the £3000 back. Subsidies never ever work. It has already been confirmed by a survey carried out by Connells that Held to 'Sell' has kept FTB property prices 'bouyant'. The whole idea of a Help to Buy ISA is a crock of shit.

Mark Wadsworth said...

L, agreed to all that :-)

Random said...

Corporatism in action. Banks, government and homeowners working together to f*ck over the young.

benj said...

Is it one ISA per property? If not I can see all sorts of syndicates being formed to take advantage. 25% is a nice freebie.

Lola said...

BJ, yes, but. That 'freebie' always gets taken back by some form of rent somewhere.

Rational Anarchist said...

I thought it was one ISA per person - and it applies only to a first time buyer. Could be wrong, but my wife and I were both planning on signing up. It's not much, but it's something.