This page contains Skipton's standard documents for use by solicitors or licensed carriers.
Lifetime ISA for a first home purchase
The Lifetime ISA can be used for the first home purchase without incurring the 25% government withdrawal fee as long as the withdrawal is made at least 12 months after the initial deposit into the account.
If your customer switched to us from another Lifetime ISA provider, the 12 months will start from the date of their first payment into the original Lifetime ISA. If your customer has switched to a lifetime ISA from another type of ISA, the 12 months will start from the first payment into the lifetime ISA, not the original ISA.
The purchase price of the property must not exceed £450,000 and the property must be purchased on a UK mortgage but not a buy to let mortgage. Your customer must move into the property as their primary residence immediately after completion.
You can findVisit gov.uk for more information on LISA home purchases.
Payment for the first house buying process
Funds can be withdrawn no earlier than 30 days before the completion date. Below we have outlined the procedure for withdrawing funds from a Lifetime ISA for a first home purchase.
- The Lifetime ISA customer signs theLifetime ISA Investor Statement [PDF]requests the payout and forwards it to you.
- You complete theLifetime ISA Conveyancer Declaration [PDF], send it to us together with the Lifetime ISA Investor Declaration by email or post. These can be emailed tolisahousepurchase@skipton.co.ukor by post to:customer delivery
Skipton Building Society
Director's Office
Die Bailey
Skipton
BD23 1DN. - Upon receipt of this, we will verify your credentials and may call you to confirm the request.
- Upon such confirmation, we will contact the customer to notify them that we have received this request and ask them to confirm their acceptance in order to authorize the payment of funds directly to you.
- After receiving the customer's approval, we process the withdrawal and pay the money out to you.
When the purchase is complete
As soon as the property purchase is completed, you should let us know by post or email. This must be done within 10 business days of completion.
The information we need to report this is:
- Account number of the Lifetime ISA from which the funds were withdrawn
- The name, past and current address of the account investor
- Purchase completion date
- Your unique carrier reference number with the appropriate professional organization.
You can also let us know by filling this outProgress form house purchase [PDF], and return to itinvestmentadmin@skipton.co.uk.
If the completion of the home purchase is delayed
HMRC regulations state that the purchase must be completed within 90 days of receipt of funds from the customer's Lifetime ISA. If the sale is not expected to close within this timeframe, you must contact us to request an additional 60-day extension to complete the sale. You can also request an additional 30-day extension at the end of the additional 60 days, if needed.
You can do this by email, post or via theProgress form house purchase [PDF]. This must contain the following information:
- Account number of the Lifetime ISA from which the funds were withdrawn
- Name and address of the account investor
- Your unique carrier reference number with the appropriate professional organization
- Estimated Completion Date.
When the house purchase fails
LISA regulations state that you have 90 days from the day the money is received to complete the home purchase. If the home purchase is at a standstill and the sale is unsuccessful, you must notify us within 10 business days of the 90 day closing period (or the end of the extension period if you have been granted an extension).
You can do this by email, post or via theProgress form house purchase [PDF]. This must contain the following information:
- A statement that the purchase is not complete
- The withdrawal amount to be returned and, if not the full amount, details of the shortfall
- Name and address of the account investor
- The account number of the Lifetime ISA from which the withdrawal was made
- Your unique carrier registration number with the relevant professional body
- A statement to the best of your knowledge as to whether any of the conditions for a fee-free withdrawal have not been met or whether any information provided by you or the investor of the account is untrue or complete.
You must return the full amount withdrawn directly to us. If the amount refunded is insufficient, it will be treated as a withdrawal and a government withdrawal fee will apply.
Please ensure you comply with the deadlines set out in the HMRC Rules and give us the appropriate notifications and information. This will prevent our mutual customer from being subject to a government withdrawal fee that is incorrectly charged.
frequently asked Questions
We ask for the close date so we can process and prioritize the payout for a first home purchase request. However, if we do not have this, we will release the money 30 days after receiving the request. If you submitted a request without a completion date and now know the completion date, please contact us as soon as possible.
Yes, we can accept both the title transfer form and the investor declaration form by email and give as much notice as possible. For data protection reasons, the declaration forms must be sent in separate e-mails for each customer.
If the account is closed, the account will be reinstated and the bonus will be paid out. We would record a suspension of membership in the company in the system if your client has no other accounts with us. We would then contact your client to confirm that we received the bonus and ask what they would like to do with the bonus amount received. If the bonus was received after the home purchase was completed, they would have to pay the 25% government withdrawal fee if they chose to withdraw the money before the age of 60 (the only exceptions being terminal illness or death).
90 days after you receive the money from us. If it takes longer than 90 days, you can write to us to request an extension.
You can request withdrawals from the account as often as you like until completion, there is no minimum withdrawal amount. We require completed declarations from you and your customer each time a withdrawal is requested during this process.
The money can only be used to pay your client's deposit on their first property and must be mortgaged (but not a 'buy to let' mortgage) on a property costing £450,000 or less. Otherwise, the 25% government withdrawal fee would apply.
If both parties are first-time buyers, both can use the Lifetime ISA to assist in the home purchase without paying a withdrawal fee.
If one party is a first-time buyer but the other has previously owned a property, the non-first-time buyer cannot use their lifetime ISA (if they also opened a lifetime ISA) to purchase the home without paying a government withdrawal fee. However, the first-time buyer could still use their own lifetime ISA on the price of the home both parties are buying together.
In either case, the price of the home customers buy together cannot exceed £450,000 if they wish to use a lifetime ISA to do so without paying a government withdrawal fee.
The purchase price of your client's first home cannot exceed £450,000 and the property must be purchased on a UK mortgage, but not a buy to let mortgage. Your customers must move into the property as their main residence immediately after completion.
Please note
If the client(s) are UK Crown employees working overseas, they must intend to reside in the UK and use the property as their principal residence in the future.