The Conservatives are believed to be announcing a shake-up of the Help to Buy ISA today (1 April).
When the Chancellor unveiled the new Help to Buy ISA in the Budget, the government said it would top up every £200 a first-time buyer saves for their deposit with £50 more.
Turning the details on their head, it is understand that the Tories will say that for every £50 a first-time buyer saves for their deposit, the government will top it up with £200 more.
A 10% deposit on the average first home costs £15,000, so if the first-time buyer puts in up to £3,000 – the government will put in up to £12,000 more.
A Treasury source told BestAdvice: “George [Osborne] is worried that the original announcement of a 25% state top-up won’t win enough votes from young people after the shafting they’ve had over the past five years.
“He’s pulling out all the stops now to win them over. We’ve no idea how he plans to pay for it, although we have heard he’s going to tax people who watch Top Gear post-Clarkson. The Tories are furious that one of their poster boys has lost his job, simply for hitting someone at work. I mean, that’s what Osborne does to Danny Alexander every morning, and rightly so.”
The Labour Party is due to make their 1 April announcement later this morning. The LibDems believe they are self-evidently a 1 April statement and so will not be commenting further.
