A Help to Buy ISA is opened every 30 seconds

A Help to Buy ISA is opened every 30 seconds. That's more than 3,000 new accounts a day!

According to the Government, a quarter of a million first-time buyers have opened a Help to Buy ISA since the scheme launched on 1 December, 2015.

And this week, the first buyers have claimed their Help to Buy bonus, where the Government tops up every £200 saved with £50.

With the average UK home now costing £283,020, many aspiring buyers are struggling to ringfence enough money to put down as a deposit.

Launched by Chancellor George Osborne at last year’s March Budget, the Help to Buy ISA is designed to help first-time buyers save money.

It is clearly good news for all first-time buyers. The ISA has proved particularly attractive with savers aged 30 and under, who make up 75% of the 250,000 buyers that have taken out the product since launch.

Meanwhile, 10% of first-time buyers that have opened a Help to Buy ISA are in the north west of England.

Like conventional ISAs, the new product allows first-time buyers to earn interest on savings tax-free. They can put away up to £200 a month in the Help to Buy ISA, and the Government will top it up by 25%, up to a maximum of £3,000.

There are 14 providers currently offering the Help to Buy ISA. And now Chorley Building Society has confirmed it will join them from 8 February, 2016.

The Help to Buy ISA is part of the Government’s wider Help to Buy initiative to help boost home ownership. Other elements of Help to Buy include an equity loan, mortgage guarantee and an equity loan specifically for new-build homes in London – launched this week.

Osborne said: “Last year I announced further help for first time buyers with the new Help to Buy ISA and I’m delighted that a quarter of a million people have already taken advantage. It is all part of our plan to back working people who are doing the right thing and saving for their first home.”