Of all the counter-productive, demand-stimulating measures successive governments have introduced to try to palliate the effects of endlessly climbing house prices, the lifetime Isa may have the dubious honour of being the most perverse.
Announced by George Osborne, although introduced under Philip Hammond’s chancellorship, it was designed as a vehicle to encourage long-term saving. To sweeten the pot, the government pays in £1 for every £4 saved a year, up to a maximum bonus of £1,000.
