Lifetime ISA

[tornadotrunks]

Could I ask people's opinions on Lifetime ISAs please? Are they as good as they appear to be? Any negatives?
None of the big/well-known banks or building societies seem to offer them which has made me a little nervous.
Also, when buying property can other savings be used as well at the LISA?
Thanks

There are drawbacks, you can only access the money for two reasons without paying a penalty. You cannot pay in once age 50 and you cannot open one once age 40.

First time property value has to be within a certain limit. You have to have held the LISA for 12 months before it can be used towards first home purchase.

Cash LISA or S&S LISA options. Not many providers so rates on cash may not be that competitive and fees on S&S platforms may not be all that low.

Can be used with an ISA but it uses the same annual allowance - LISA is max £4k per tax year, so uses up to £4k of the £20k ISA allowance. The bonus does not use any of the annual allowance.

I don't know why more providers do not offer it... maybe the reporting of it, or some other admin of it is more complicated than it is for an ISA.

If you ever need benefits they'll count as savings and there are huge penalties for withdrawing for reasons other than a house deposit or pension.