Help to buy LISA

You can use a Lifetime ISA (Individual Savings Account) to buy your first home or save for later life. You must be 18 or over but under 40 to open a Lifetime ISA.

You can put in up to £4,000 each year, until you’re 50. The government will add a 25% bonus to your savings, up to a maximum of £1,000 per year.

You can hold cash or stocks and shares in your Lifetime ISA, or have a combination of both.

There’s a 25% charge to withdraw cash or assets from a Lifetime ISA. This doesn’t apply if you’re:

• buying your first home
• aged 60 or over
• terminally ill, with less than 12 months to live

When you turn 50, you won’t be able to pay into your Lifetime ISA or earn the 25% bonus. Your account will stay open and your savings will still earn interest or investment returns.

Buying your first home

You can use your savings to help you buy your first home if all the following apply:

• the property costs £450,000 or less
• you buy the property at least 12 months after you open the Lifetime ISA
• you use a conveyancer or solicitor to act for you in the purchase – the ISA provider will pay the funds directly to them
• you’re buying with a mortgage

Buying with someone else

If the person you’re buying with has a Lifetime ISA, they can use their savings and government bonus too.

They’ll pay a 25% withdrawal charge to use their Lifetime ISA savings if they own or have a legal interest in property (for example they’re a beneficiary of a trust that includes property).

You can transfer money from a Help to Buy ISA to a Lifetime ISA. If you transfer money from a Lifetime ISA to a Help to Buy ISA you’ll have to pay the 25% withdrawal charge.

Saving for later life

You can take your savings out of a Lifetime ISA when you’re 60 or over.

You’ll pay a 25% charge if you withdraw money or transfer the Lifetime ISA to another type of ISA before 60.

If you die your Lifetime ISA ends on the date of your death. There’s no charge to withdraw the funds or assets from your account.

A Lifetime ISA is one of a number of ways to save for later life.