Lifetime ISA FAQs
Lifetime ISAs are Individual savings accounts that help people either buy their first home or save for retirement. The government tops up lifetime ISAs by 25%, so every time you pay in, the government does too. For example, if you pay in £100, it will give you an extra £25 on top.
You can invest up to £4,000 in your lifetime ISA each tax year, so there's £1,000 of government bonus available each year.
If you're having any problems with opening or managing a OneFamily Lifetime ISA, take a look at our Help and Support pages.
Most asked
A lifetime ISA is an individual savings account (ISA), designed for those aged between 18 and 39 to save towards buying their first home or towards retirement.
- You can invest up to £4,000, in this current tax year (subject to contributions into other types of ISAs)
- The government tops up the money you put in a lifetime ISA with a bonus of 25%, up to £1,000 per year, based on the current rules
- There are two types of lifetime ISA - cash or stocks and shares. OneFamily only offers a stocks and shares Lifetime ISA.
You can find out more about lifetime ISAs with our 'What is a lifetime ISA?' guide.
The main difference between cash and stocks and shares lifetime ISAs is how they make money.
Cash lifetime ISAs grow by building interest, like a current account does. You can’t lose money but the amount you make (on top of the 25% government bonus) depends on current interest rates so there is less risk but also less potential for growth.
With stocks and shares ISAs, your money (and the 25% government bonus) is invested in a fund that is used to buy various types of investments: things like shares in companies, property and corporate and government bonds.
Your money increases or decreases as the value of those assets changes.
Stocks and shares lifetime ISAs therefore have higher potential to grow, especially over the long term, but the value can fall as well as rise and it's possible you could get back less than you’ve paid in.
For our own Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA we suggest investing for a minimum of five years to even-out any changes in the stock market. If you are looking to buy your first home within the next five years, a cash lifetime ISA is probably more appropriate.
Read our guide on 'Lifetime ISA: cash vs stocks and shares' to find out more.
Once you’ve had an offer on a property accepted, your next step will be to choose a registered conveyancing solicitor to manage the legal side of buying the property.
You’ll need to let them know that you plan to use money in your lifetime ISA to buy the property.
There are two forms that will need completing.
- You need to complete an Investor Declaration Form
- Your solicitor needs to complete a Conveyancer Declaration Form
Send your completed Investor Declaration Form and a blank copy of the Conveyancer Declaration Form to your solicitor.
Your solicitor will then complete their form and send both to us. We’ll give you a quick call to confirm your instructions and let you know we’re received the forms.
We’ll then work with your conveyancing solicitor to send them the money directly.
About lifetime ISAs
A lifetime ISA is an individual savings account (ISA), designed for those aged between 18 and 39 to save towards buying their first home or towards retirement.
- You can invest up to £4,000, in this current tax year (subject to contributions into other types of ISAs)
- The government tops up the money you put in a lifetime ISA with a bonus of 25%, up to £1,000 per year, based on the current rules
- There are two types of lifetime ISA - cash or stocks and shares. OneFamily only offers a stocks and shares Lifetime ISA.
You can find out more about lifetime ISAs with our 'What is a lifetime ISA?' guide.
To open a lifetime ISA you must:
- be aged between 18 and 39 (inclusive),
- be a UK resident or a Crown employee who is serving overseas and is paid out of public revenue (or the spouse of such an employee).
You must not:
- be a US citizen (including dual nationals),
- hold a lifetime ISA that you have paid into in the current tax year.
There are two types of lifetime ISAs - stocks and shares and cash. OneFamily only offers a stocks and shares Lifetime ISA.
Find out more about the OneFamily Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA here.
The main difference between cash and stocks and shares lifetime ISAs is how they make money.
Cash lifetime ISAs grow by building interest, like a current account does. You can’t lose money but the amount you make (on top of the 25% government bonus) depends on current interest rates so there is less risk but also less potential for growth.
With stocks and shares ISAs, your money (and the 25% government bonus) is invested in a fund that is used to buy various types of investments: things like shares in companies, property and corporate and government bonds.
Your money increases or decreases as the value of those assets changes.
Stocks and shares lifetime ISAs therefore have higher potential to grow, especially over the long term, but the value can fall as well as rise and it's possible you could get back less than you’ve paid in.
For our own Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA we suggest investing for a minimum of five years to even-out any changes in the stock market. If you are looking to buy your first home within the next five years, a cash lifetime ISA is probably more appropriate.
Read our guide on 'Lifetime ISA: cash vs stocks and shares' to find out more.
Yes, however you can only:
-
- open one lifetime ISA each tax year,
- pay into one lifetime ISA during each tax year (even if they’re with different providers),
- use one lifetime ISA to buy your first home.
Tax years run from 6 April – 5 April the following year.
You can keep your lifetime ISA open after you’ve bought your first home and use it to save for your retirement.
Find out about lifetime ISA allowances and limits.
You can invest up to £4,000 in a lifetime ISA each tax year (tax year runs 6 April – 5 April the following year).
You also need to be mindful of your overall ISA contribution – you’re allowed to put up to £20,000 into ISAs each tax year and the money you pay into a lifetime ISA counts towards this.
The government bonus (up to £1,000 each tax year) doesn’t count towards the £20,000 overall ISA limit or the £4,000 lifetime ISA limit.
You can keep putting money into a lifetime ISA until your 50th birthday.
When opening a OneFamily Lifetime ISA you will need to set up a regular direct debit of £25 or make a £250 lump sum payment.
Discover more about lifetime ISA allowances and limits or find out how much you can get back from your savings with our lifetime ISA calculator.
Unfortunately not, but if you're both first time buyers, you can both open lifetime ISAs separately.
You could then use both of your lifetime ISAs to buy your first home jointly.
Yes, you can transfer your help to buy ISA balance into our OneFamily Lifetime ISA. Please remember - any transferred funds will count towards the lifetime ISA contribution limit in the current tax year.
You must have your lifetime ISA open for a minimum of 12 months before using the money to buy your first home. As ours is a stocks and shares ISA, the value can fall as well as rise so you could get back less than is paid in.
If you’re looking to transfer your help to buy ISA to a lifetime ISA, you'll need to read all key documentation and open your lifetime ISA account online.
When you're ready to request the transfer, print the transfer form, complete and send to us using our freepost address: OneFamily, 16-17 West Street, Brighton, BN1 2RL.
If you already have a lifetime ISA with us, you'll also find a link to this document in the 'my documents' section of your online account.
Yes, if you already have a help to buy ISA then you can also open a lifetime ISA. However, you will only be able to use the government bonus from one of them to buy your first home. Please note that help to buys ISAs aren't available anymore, you can only open a lifetime ISA. You can also transfer money you have in a help to buy ISA to a lifetime ISA.
Find out more about the differences between help to buy ISAs and lifetime ISAs.
Please note OneFamily only offers a stocks and shares Lifetime ISA.
Learn more about how to use a lifetime ISA as a first-time buyer.
HMRC will charge you 25% of everything you take out of your account if you withdraw money:
- within the first 12 months of opening the Lifetime ISA, or
- to use for anything other than buying your first home (unless you've turned 60).
The charge will be more than the government bonus you've received on the amount you withdraw. This is because it is 25% of the total amount you take out, which includes the bonus already added.
You can find out more about lifetime ISA withdrawal charges here.
Please note the government withdrawal charge does not apply on death or if you are terminally ill. You can find out more about what happens in those situations in our terms and conditions.
Before opening your lifetime ISA, please make sure you've read all the key documentation first. This can be found here on the main product page.
If you've read and agreed to all key documentation provided and wish to apply please click the 'Open a Lifetime ISA' button at the bottom of the page.
When you are applying for a lifetime ISA with OneFamily, you will need to select which fund you'd like to invest in and confirm your payment method. You can choose to pay either via debit card, a direct debit or a transfer in of an existing help to buy ISA or lifetime ISA..
If you select a help to buy transfer you will be able to complete the online application without details of the help to buy account but you'll need to provide these to us by post in order to proceed with the transfer.
To complete the application, you will need your National Insurance number. The application will take approximately 10 minutes.
As part of the application process, we need to verify your identity for fraud prevention and so we can comply with anti-money laundering legislation. We will let you know if you need to provide us with identification when you complete your application.
If you’re not ready to apply yet and want to find out more about OneFamily's Lifetime ISA please visit our main Lifetime ISA page here.
Yes, please note that you will need to provide identification documents for the policy owner and the Power of Attorney (POA) and also the power of attorney documents.
You will receive information on documents and certification requirements on completion of the application.
Using your Lifetime ISA to buy your first home
Once you’ve had an offer on a property accepted, your next step will be to choose a registered conveyancing solicitor to manage the legal side of buying the property.
You’ll need to let them know that you plan to use money in your lifetime ISA to buy the property.
There are two forms that will need completing.
- You need to complete an Investor Declaration Form
- Your solicitor needs to complete a Conveyancer Declaration Form
Send your completed Investor Declaration Form and a blank copy of the Conveyancer Declaration Form to your solicitor.
Your solicitor will then complete their form and send both to us. We’ll give you a quick call to confirm your instructions and let you know we’re received the forms.
We’ll then work with your conveyancing solicitor to send them the money directly.
Absolutely, unlike with help to buy ISAs, the government bonus is added to your account each month so it can be used towards your deposit.
Once your conveyancing solicitor has received the money from your lifetime ISA, you have 90 days to complete the house purchase.
If the purchase is progressing but not expected to complete within the initial 90 days, your conveyancer can ask us for a 60-day extension followed by a further 30-day extension if required.
To apply for an extension, your conveyancer will need to contact us by phone or in writing.
We need a completed Conveyancer Declaration Form for each withdrawal you wish to make. There’s no limit on the number of withdrawals you can make towards the same house purchase.
Of course! You can access your money whenever you like but, remember, if you want to take any funds out before the age of 60, the 25% withdrawal charge will apply.
Learn more about our Lifetime ISA fees and charges.
Because HMRC pays bonus payments monthly there’s a possibility that this may happen. But, don’t worry, we’ll still receive your bonus payment from the HMRC as normal.
If this is received before your house purchase is completed this can be used towards your deposit. If it’s received after completion this will go into your lifetime ISA account.
If you no longer wish to go ahead, just get in touch with us to let us know. You’ll also need to let your conveyancer know.
You will still be able to use the money in your lifetime ISA to buy another property without paying the withdrawal penalty fee, as long as it's still your first home.
If we’ve already sent the funds, your conveyancer must return them, in full, to us within 10 working days. If they return less than the amount withdrawn, the difference will be treated as a withdrawal. That means we’ll have to apply a 25% withdrawal charge, which is paid to HMRC.
Learn more about our Lifetime ISA fees and charges.
As long as your conveyancer returns the funds within 10 working days of the house purchase falling through, we’ll pay the money back into your OneFamily Lifetime ISA. As your purchase has fallen through, you can still use the money in your lifetime ISA to buy another property without paying the withdrawal penalty fee.
We need the conveyancer to return the full amount; if they return less than the amount withdrawn, the difference will be treated as a withdrawal. That means we'll have to apply the 25% withdrawal charge, which is paid to HMRC.
Absolutely. Your OneFamily Lifetime ISA remains open unless you let us know you’d like to close it. This means your Direct Debit will keep paying in unless you cancel it.
You can contribute to a lifetime ISA until your 50th birthday.
Using your Lifetime ISA to help fund your retirement
You can withdraw money from your 60th birthday without paying the government withdrawal charge.
If you need to withdraw money before your 60th birthday and it's not for a first-time house purchase, a government withdrawal charge of 25% will apply to the amount you take out.
The withdrawal charge is 25% of everything you take out, so it will be more than the government bonus you've received on that amount of money.
Learn more about our Lifetime ISA fees and charges.
Yes. You can withdraw money at any time from your lifetime ISA. However, HMRC will charge you a penalty fee of 25% of everything you withdraw if:
- You opened (and started paying into) your lifetime ISA less than 12 months ago,
- it's not to use towards your first home, or
- you've not yet turned 60.
The withdrawal penalty charge will be higher than the government bonus you're received.
If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, you will be able to withdraw your money without incurring any penalties. Confirmation of your terminal illness will be subject to verification from a medical practitioner.
More information about early withdrawal charges can be found within the terms and conditions.
About OneFamily’s Lifetime ISA
You can withdraw money from your Lifetime ISA whenever you like. However, you will have to pay a government withdrawal charge of 25% of everything you take out if you withdraw money:
- within the first 12 months of opening the Lifetime ISA, or
- to use for anything other than buying your first home (unless you've turned 60).
Learn more about Lifetime ISA fees and charges here.
As with most investment products there are some charges for the ongoing maintenance of your Lifetime ISA. We always aim to keep these to a minimum.
We charge one, simple, Account Management Charge of 1.1%. There are no hidden management fees. Please note charges may vary in the future.
For further information on charges, please refer to the key information documents and the Lifetime ISA Charges page.
One fund is designed for shorter term investments, for example if you are saving for your first home, whereas the other fund choice is designed for longer term investments, such as retirement.
Our global mixed investment fund is designed for shorter term investments (5 years or more). Read the key information document here.
Our global equity investment fund is designed for longer term investments (10 years or more). Read the key information document here.
The two funds also have slightly different risk profiles.
If you have taken out a Lifetime ISA with us and would like to switch your fund you can do this by logging into your online account.
More fund information can be found on the Lifetime ISA product page.
Your existing investments will switch into one of OneFamily's funds. The table below shows detail of which fund your account will be invested into.
The new investments were chosen as they are most closely aligned to your current fund's investment objectives.
Comparison of differences:
- The Share Centre funds invest in other funds that currently hold shares, fixed interest investments and alternative investments in proportions that can vary within broad ranges. The OneFamily Global Equity Fund contains 100% worldwide shares and the OneFamily Mixed Global Fund contains up to 35% worldwide shares with the remainder in fixed interest investments.
- The risk profiles of The Share Centre funds are slightly higher than the OneFamily funds you will be moved into. We believe the risk and reward profiles are similar over the medium to long term although they will not perform in exactly the same way.
- The ongoing charges in the OneFamily funds are up to approximately 0.5% lower than in The Share Centre funds, based on current charges. This reduction should improve investment returns, allowing for the differences in investment approaches between the funds.
| Current investment ES Share Centre Multi Manager | New Investment OneFamily |
|---|---|
| One fund held: | |
| Growth fund | Global Equity fund |
| Growth & Income fund | Global Mixed fund |
| Income fund | Global Mixed fund |
| Combination of two funds held | |
| Growth fund and Income fund | Global Mixed fund |
| Growth fund and Growth & Income fund | Global Equity fund |
| Growth & Income fund and Income fund | Global Mixed fund |
If you currently hold all three funds your investment will switch the OneFamily Global Equity fund, If you are only holding cash in your account, you will automatically be invested into the OneFamily Global Mixed fund.
There's some important documents you need to read
As part of the transfer process you need to ensure you have reviewed the below important information documents:
Managing your OneFamily Lifetime ISA
To close your OneFamily Lifetime ISA, you’ll first need to set up a “nominated account”, which is the account you’d like us to send your money to.
You’ll find the form to do this in your online account.
If we can’t verify your nominated account online, we’ll ask you to send us proof of your bank details so we can make sure we’re not giving anyone else your money.
The acceptable items of proof are:
- A statement, paper or online print-out dated within the last three months (the transactions can be blacked out).
- A letter from your bank dated within the last three months.
- A cheque or paying-in slip from your bank or building society. Please cross through the information and write ‘invalid’ on it.
Once your nominated account is set up, you’ll then be able to cancel your Lifetime ISA in the ‘payments out’ section of your online account.
You’ll receive the money when all payments in your Lifetime ISA have cleared and units have been sold.
Please note, if you are cancelling after 30 days of your first payment into the account and not using the money for your first home, you will be charged a penalty withdrawal charge by HMRC. This charge doesn’t apply if you are 60 or over.
Yes, you can transfer your lifetime ISA between providers.
It’s important that you check with your new provider that they can facilitate transfers from other lifetime ISAs before opening your account. You can then request to transfer your balance across through your new provider.
Your new provider will then contact us and facilitate the transfer.
If you close your account during the 30-day cooling off period, you will not be subject to the government withdrawal charge.
If you close your account after the cooling off period, you will have to pay a government withdrawal charge of 25% of everything you take out if you withdraw money:
- within the first 12 months of opening the Lifetime ISA, or
- to use for anything other than buying your first home (unless you've turned 60).
Please note there are some other withdrawal exceptions, which include terminal illness and death. You can find out more about what happens in those situations from in our terms and conditions.
You can take a partial withdrawal, but each withdrawal made:
- within the first 12 months of opening a Lifetime ISA, or;
- before the age of 60 and not for the purchase of a first home
will be subject to a 25% government withdrawal charge.
You can find out more about Lifetime ISA withdrawal charges here.
You can invest money into your Lifetime ISA by making one-off payments or by setting up a regular direct debit.
To make a one-off payment, either log into your online account or visit the 'Making a Payment’ page.
To set up or amend a direct debit, log into your online account. There you’ll be able to create a new direct debit, change the amount you're paying and update your bank details.
Your funds will be invested up to three working days after we receive payment. Once the funds have been allocated you’ll be able to see them in your online account.
If you're having any problems, please send us a secure message through your online account and our customer service team will be on hand to help.
If you have a direct debit set up to pay into someone else's account, you'll need to call us on 0300 200 300 (open 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am - 4pm Saturday and 9am - 5pm Sunday) to change it.
If you'd like to change the fund your OneFamily Lifetime ISA is invested in, it's easy to change. Simply log into your online account and swap your fund there. You can switch your fund free of charge.
For further information about each fund please refer to the Key Information Document relevant to your fund choice which you can find on the main product page.
We have created an online account service to make it simple and easy to manage your OneFamily Lifetime ISA.
In your online account, you'll be able to update your personal details, payment methods, fund choice, see your statements and check how your Lifetime ISA is performing.
Log into your online account where your dashboard will show you how much your Lifetime ISA is currently worth.
Please note this is likely to change daily as the unit price of the funds will rise and fall in line with market conditions.
If you've just opened your account and your first payment isn't showing yet, don't panic. It’s likely we are waiting for the payment to be allocated to the selected funds, please allow a couple of days for this to be populated.
If the payment is not showing after a few days or you have any queries, please send us a secure message using your online account so we can look into this further for you.
Within your online account you have a ‘my documents’ section. This area provides you with access to your statements.
Statements will be sent to your documents folder every three months. You will receive an email notification whenever you have a new document to look at. Please note this is an online-only product, we don't send your statements in the post.
When we send bank details for Direct Debits or Nominated Accounts to your bank, there is only space for eight digit account numbers. The table below shows how to convert bank account numbers with ten, nine, seven or six digits into a standard eight digit number.
Account numbers with 10 digits
For National Westminster Bank plc account numbers, use the last eight digits only. Ignore any hyphens between the second and third numbers. For example:
0123456789 or 01-23456789
becomes
23456789
For Co-Operative Bank plc account numbers, use the first eight digits only. For example:
1234567890
becomes
12345678
Account numbers with 9 digits
For Santander accounts, replace the last digit of the sort code with the first digit of the account number, then use the last eight digits of the account number only. For example:
00-00-00
123456789
becomes
00-00-01
23456789
Account numbers with 7 digits
For account numbers with seven digits, prefix the account number with a zero (0). For example:
1234567
becomes
01234567
The details we hold and the details HMRC holds must match for your Lifetime ISA government bonus to be paid.
If HMRC has been unable to match your details, the first thing to do is check the information we have in your online account.
You can do this by logging into your online account and going to 'Personal details'. Check that your name, date-of-birth and National Insurance number are correct.
If you need to update any of these details, please send us a secure message. Just so you know, we might need to see further documents before we can make any changes to your personal details.
If the details are correct on your Lifetime ISA, you’ll need to check the details held by HMRC. You can do this by:
- Calling 0300 200 3300 (open 8am-8pm Monday – Friday, 8am-4pm Saturday and 9am-5pm Sunday)
- Writing to - HM Revenue & Customs, BX9 1AS, United Kingdom
- Setting up an account on www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account
You can also visit www.gov.uk/tell-hmrc-change-of-details for information on updating your personal details with HMRC.
Don’t worry, it’s normal not to see transactions instantly on your account. This could be because:
- Units from within your account haven’t been allocated yet;
- If you’ve transferred your help to buy ISA to us, we may not have received the payment from the other provider yet, or funds may not yet have been cleared.
The process for all funds to be cleared will take no more than four working days. If it has been longer than this or if you have any other questions, please send us a secure message via your online account.