02 Dec 2015
The new Help to Buy ISA scheme, announced by the Chancellor in the March Budget, came into effect this week, with various banks and building societies launching their products onto the market.
As from 1 December 2015, potential first-time house buyers can use the special accounts to save for a deposit and gain specific advantages.
Interest in a Help to Buy ISA will be free of both income and capital gains tax, and when savers take money out to buy a house or flat the Government will add 25% to whatever is in the account, up to a maximum of £3,000.
Those banks and building societies that have launched Help to Buy ISAs include Halifax, which will offer an initial interest rate of 4%, whilst Nationwide and Natwest are both offering 2% interest but include access to other perks and incentives.
Meanwhile, a survey by Nationwide has found that growth in UK house prices slowed slightly in November. Prices were 3.7% higher than a year earlier, down from 3.9% in October. The average property in the UK now costs £196,305.