Can you rent out a home bought with a Help to Buy ISA/Lifetime ISA?

The Help to Buy ISA is a huge boon for first-time buyers. It means when you save in it for a mortgage deposit, you’ll get up to £3,000 added on top. The new Lifetime ISA is going to dwarf even that when it launches in 2017 – adding up to £1,000 a year, for up to 32 years,...

Santander 123 is now 3% TAX-FREE for most – is the £5/mth fee worth it?

Update June 2016: This was written in April 2016. We’ve updated the products mentioned here, but Martin’s analysis still stands – the MSE team. Santander 123 is the UK’s most switched to bank account – due to the high interest paid on savings, and cashback given on bills. And from tomorrow, it’ll become even more attractive as...

What I told MPs they need to know about financial education and why we must SPEND some money…

I’ve been campaigning for financial education in schools for nearly five years now. Two years ago we had a huge victory in getting it on the national curriculum. The big question now is, has it been done well enough? To answer that, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People, a group I was...

The Help to Buy ISA vs Lifetime ISA – which should first-time buyers get?

Update Note August 2016: While reviewing this blog I’ve noticed that in bashing it out, I used the term house deposit as shorthand – but that is ambiguous. So to clarify I am talking about the deposit you need to get a mortgage for a house, not the deposit you must give a seller at exchange. This...