Buying a house with Lifetime ISA as deposit, can we make an offer before funds available ?

[Moonrat]

Me and my partner have maxed out our lifetime ISAs for the year but are waiting for the bonuses to be paid in (end of August) but we think we may have to wait til mid September to access the funds (opened the accounts in August last year but the initial payments didn't 'clear' til September 12th)

We're wondering if we like a house we're viewing whether we can put an offer on it even whilst we don't yet have access to the money (knowing that we will have in around 1 1/2 months) or whether we need to have access to the deposit funds as soon as the offer is put in. I've been told by a friend in the past that transferring the deposit is the very last thing to happen so surely this should not be an issue?

We're first time buyers so I'm sorry if any of this sounds silly!

Yeah course you can! Go for it!

Yes, it's 8-12 weeks till you need the deposit so no prob with putting in offers now. As long as you have money set aside for a survey, solicitor and mortgage fee you're good to go.

In case that's helpful: Having a mortgage offer in principle can reassure a seller that you're a serious buyer who can afford the purchase.

Yes you can. You don't need to send the deposit to your solicitor until you are approaching exchange.