Help to buy ISA confusion

[DobbyisFREE]

I'm a first time buyer and utterly confused! Our solicitor is impossible to get hold of and looking online hasn't helped me.

Help to Buy ISA information states that the money cannot be used for the exchange deposit and can only be used for the mortgage deposit. We will need to pay the exchange deposit up front and, according to help pages I'm reading, you then "top up" the exchange deposit at the end of the process with what is owing for the mortgage deposit.

If the exchange deposit is 10% and the mortgage deposit is 10% then the amount to top up is £0.

I have to be missing something here because that would mean that I can't use my help to buy ISA for anything at all. Please help

You need to renegotiate your exchange deposit so that it is less then the completion deposit, then. You'll need the solicitor for that, though.
We once paid literally nominal exchange deposit and all our money was tide up elsewhere so I know it's possible.

You can negotiate a lower than 10% exchange deposit. This is very common, particularly with HTB ISAs.

In practical terms you'd have your money + ISA bonus = mortgage deposit. The mortgage deposit figure minus the HTB bonus amount would be what you offered as the exchange deposit.

Hope this makes sense!

P.S, I'm a conveyancing solicitor and do this week in week out!

They are a bit of a bugger cos you can't use them towards the actual deposit. As frosted said, your solicitor should make your seller solicitor aware and they should negotiate your deposit for you, with the top up being used on completion.

Thanks all, that's really helpful :) Seems like the trick is getting solicitors to engage! They do know I have a Help to Buy ISA but they are impossible to get hold of. Hopefully it's all in hand and I'm just being impatient. Been saving to buy for so long I'm a little over excited and getting ahead of myself.

Could you delete some of your threads please- all on same subject about 5 clogging up this board! Thanks.