We talk to Will, our Digital Marketing Specialist whose been working for Genesis Homes for 10 months. This is Will’s first professional job since graduating from University and taking a gap year to go travelling.
“Since starting work here, I have learnt about lots of schemes, benefits, etc not just within house building but the property market as a whole. One such scheme is Help to Buy, which is a Government-led initiative that aims to help hard-working people get onto the property ladder. Help to Buy incorporates several different schemes such as shared ownership and an equity loan as well as the Help to Buy ISA – all of which have been created to help people get on the ladder sooner, access cheaper mortgage rates and get a competitive loan when buying or moving house.
“I am yet to get onto the property ladder but if you’re like me, you need to get your act together, as the Help to Buy ISA becomes unavailable after Saturday 30th November! After this date you will no longer be able to take advantage of this excellent benefit that allows us first time buyers (ages 16 and over) to obtain up to a £3,000 Government bonus when buying a home. I’ve done some research and found that you can set-up an ISA easily online, in branch, by telephone or by post. With most providers you can deposit up to £200 per month and there’s also the option to kickstart the ISA with up to £1,000. Before opening an account, I thought to myself, how long will it take to get the maximum bonus? So, I created the table below to help people like me:
“According to the calculations, and by depositing £200 each month, I can expect to achieve the full bonus in just under 5 years (I will also be gaining interest on my savings – as an example with HSBC this is 2.25% AER but for other providers it may be different).
“In order to claim the bonus, you must go through a solicitor or conveyancer who will apply for the bonus when the time comes to buy your first home. However, just keep in mind that solicitors are likely to charge a fee for their time (after doing some research, this seems to be up to £60) and the ISA must be used to purchase property up to the value of £250,000 (£450,000 in London).
“I would highly recommend opening one before the deadline, even if you don’t have a lot of savings (you can open one with as little as £1), and the Government has pledged that they will continue to award bonuses until 2030, so you’ve plenty of time to start saving and take advantage of the maximum bonus! Furthermore, you should also note that although these ISA’s are solely available to first time buyers, they are not limited to one per household, which means if you are planning to buy with your partner, you could receive bonuses of up to £6,000 – a significant boost towards owning your first home!
“So, what are you waiting for? I’ve just taken out my ISA… you’ve only just over a week to set up yours – don’t miss out!”
We should point out that this is info taken from Will’s research and he’s not trained to give financial advice!