Since the Government’s flagship Lifetime Isa (LISA) scheme was launched in 2017 to help millennials onto the property ladder its popularity has grown and grown.
The scheme allows first time buyers (plus older people saving for retirement) aged 18 to 40 to save up to £4,000 per year into a tax free account. The Government will then top up these savings with a 25 per cent bonus – a maximum pay-out of £1,000 per year. But this “free money” offer has a sting in its tail, and one which has caught out many of those hardest hit by the pandemic.
