Help to Buy ISA vs a LISA

[BackforGood]

DS now knows where the greatest wisdom is, and, when I confessed I don't know that much about them, said, 'Can you ask MN?'

What's the advantage / disadvantage of him setting up a LISA vs a Help to Buy ISA ?
If it matters, he's 23, in regular work but a pretty low salary, and knows he doesn't earn enough to get much of a mortgage yet so would probably be looking to buy in 4 or 5 years at least, maybe longer down the line.
He has read all the Martin Lewis website but wanted to check with me if he'd missed something / if he'd understood it all but I don't really know anything about the schemes.
We know the 'Help to Buy ISA' is closing to new entries soon so wants to start now if he can.

What does he need to know ?
TIA

I think most LISAs are linked to stocks etc as thats why my son went for the help to buy isa, he cant afford to lose any money.

Maybe by now they have cash ones

What area of the country do you live in ?

DS has a Help to Buy ISA and is currently in the process of buying. However we are in a very expensive part of the country and the property he is buying is over the limit, so he wont be getting the Government extra. The limit for London is higher but not surrounding areas.

So he may not of bothered

You can't use your HTB ISA as part of the initial deposit (although I've heard stories from friends that differ with this...), However you are not penalised for withdrawing money, unlike LISA (which charges you for removing money).

At this point I would say HTB, if he is in low paid work and needs to take the money out for car/rent/holiday then he can do so without loosing money, with a HTB. The most important thing is he is saving, but I'd vote help to buy isa

I had a help to buy isa and would have swapped it over last year to a lifetime isa if I hadn’t bought my house when I did. The main difference I can see is that you can only save £200 a month in a htb isa and can’t backdate ‘missed’ months, but a lifetime isa has a slightly higher limit and you can put the full years limit in at any time.

I think the lifetime isa has a minimum of a years saving before you can get the bonus.

Both of them, you loose money if you withdraw it and it’s not for a house deposit or you’re over 50.

I had a normal cash lifetime isa with skipton, but there’s more choice of providers if you want a stocks and shares isa. My htb isa was with Santander.

Also, when I used my htb bonus, it reduced what I had to pay to my solicitor - I got an invoice for (house deposit + solicitors fees + lbtt) minus the htb bonus.

I’m in Scotland though, so it might be dealt with differently in England or Wales.

Thanks everyone.
@Oldraver - we are in the Midlands, with a range of property prices, so not unrealistic to get something in a few years time.

My instinct was to say HTB, but only because I don't really understand / haven't heard so much about the LISA - just wanted to check your collective wisdom

Everything he needs to consider is here:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-ISA/

I assume that he knows that one of them ends on Saturday so he has to be quick, but Martin Lewis did say the other day that if you were unsure, you could open one of each and put a pound in each and it's effectively reserved until you know which is best.