How to manage your Help to Buy: ISA

A Help to Buy: ISA is a tax-free savings account designed for first time buyers (aged 16 or over) looking to save a deposit for their first home.

You can only hold one Help to Buy: ISA with one ISA provider.

When you close the account, you could qualify for a Government bonus of up to 25% of your balance. This is claimed by your conveyancer and used towards the purchase of your first property.

The Government bonus is usually paid between exchange and completion.

The maximum Government bonus is £3,000, based on a balance of £12,000. If you save more than £12,000, the additional amount will not go towards the bonus. You can still only get up to £3,000. The minimum bonus is £400, based on a balance of £1,600.

The property you are buying also has to meet certain requirements and must be bought with the help of a mortgage.

To claim the bonus, you must be what the Scheme refers to as a ‘First Time Buyer’.

This means:

• you are not and have never been a Residential Property Owner
• you will become the owner of a property in the UK (either on your own or jointly)
• the property must be purchased by you with the aid of a mortgage (not necessarily a Nationwide mortgage)
• the property must cost no more than £250,000 outside London and £450,000 within London (a list of inner and outer London Boroughs is given in the Scheme Rules). For shared or joint ownership properties this means the full sale price of the property, not just the cost of the initial share being bought
• the bonus is claimed on your behalf by your conveyancer and must be used directly to fund your purchase
• you intend to occupy the property yourself as your only or main residence
• you occupy the property when purchased (unless you are in the Forces and unable to do so)

You must also:

• have your Help to Buy: ISA open for at least 3 months
• have at least £1,600 in the account

For shared or joint purchases, this means the full purchase price of the property – not just the cost of your share.

When you are ready to buy a property, let us know so we can close your Help to Buy: ISA. We will issue a statement confirming that your Help to Buy: ISA is closed. You will not be able to claim your bonus without this. Give the closing statement to your conveyancer, who can then apply for your bonus (as long as you are eligible).

The bonus needs to be included with the money you transfer on completion. You cannot use the bonus amount alone to pay for:

• the deposit you put down on the property
• solicitor or estate agent fees, or similar costs of buying a home

Your conveyancer can apply to claim the bonus within 12 months of the date the account is closed.

The latest date for claiming the bonus is 1 December 2030.

You can find the latest interest rate on your Help to Buy: ISA by logging in to our banking app or internet bank. You can also find it if you use our tool to check your rate.

Interest is paid annually at the end of the day before each anniversary of your account opening and on the date your account is closed.

You can choose to have interest paid to you by having it added to this account or by asking us to pay it into a different Nationwide current or savings account (as long as it is possible to make interest payments into that account) or a current account with another provider.

Where you choose for interest to be paid to another account, the interest will not be included in the total when you close your account and claim the Government bonus.

If you choose for interest to be added to this account, it will not count towards the maximum amount you can pay into this account each month.

If you opened your account without depositing any money, you can pay in up to £1,200 during the first calendar month of making your first deposit. For example, if you pay £100 into your account on 5 January, you have until 31 January to add the remaining £1,100. After that, you can pay in up to £200 a month until 30 November 2029.

If you opened your account with £1 or more, when you made your first deposit, you had until the end of that month to pay in up to £1,200. Now, you can pay in up to £200 a month until 30 November 2029.

If you don't use any of your ISA allowance for an entire tax year, you will not be able to pay into your ISA until you renew it. You can do this online or at any Nationwide branch.

If you are a Nationwide member trying to pay in more than £200 as your first deposit, you will need to visit us in branch.

You can save up to £200 a month (until 30 November 2029). You don’t have to save as much as this but if you decide not to, you cannot make it up the following month.

You can move savings from another ISA into your Help to Buy: ISA or just deposit money. But any savings that you move will still count towards your monthly paying in limit of £200.

If you don’t use any of your ISA allowance for an entire tax year, the next time you try to pay into your Help to Buy: ISA, you will need to complete an ISA renewal form. If you don’t, the payment will not go through.

As well as your Help to Buy: ISA, you can continue to pay into other Nationwide cash ISAs during the same tax year.

If you open more than one cash ISA with us, you will have a portfolio cash ISA. For example, you could start the tax year by opening a Help to Buy: ISA with us, then later that tax year open a fixed rate cash ISA with us. You can pay into both of these ISAs separately, but your allowance will be shared between them in one, single cash ISA.

Just make sure the combined total of your cash ISA products, including your Help to Buy: ISA, does not go over the annual ISA allowance.

If your property purchase falls through, your conveyancer will give you a ‘Purchase Failure Notice’.

You will be able to deposit an amount up to the balance of your old Help to Buy: ISA at the point it was closed.

You can withdraw or transfer money from your account any time you like.

However, the bonus is worked out on your closing balance. So, if you take any money out before closing your Help to Buy: ISA, the bonus will not count on the amounts you withdraw. The latest date for claiming the bonus is 1 December 2030.

You also cannot replace any money you withdraw if it would mean exceeding the monthly paying in limit of £200.

You can close your Help to Buy: ISA or transfer its balance to another ISA, either with Nationwide or another provider, online or in branch.

Once closed, and as long as you are eligible, you have 12 months to claim the Government bonus.

Once your Help to Buy: ISA is closed, we will send you a closure statement by post within 7 days. Your conveyancer can then use it to claim your Government bonus.

If your completion is delayed, your conveyancer can apply for a Purchase Failure Notice.