The Nationwide Building Society has outlined its commitment to the Help to Buy ISA scheme.
The ISA, which will be launched on 1 December, will see customers able to benefit from its existing Save to Buy initiative as well as being able to save towards the cash bonus available with the Help to Buy ISA deposit.
The Help to Buy ISA is available only to first time buyers. According to current guidelines, savers can deposit up to £1,200 in the month they open the account and a further £200 in each subsequent month.
It is designed to assist those saving for a deposit on their first home by offering a government cash bonus according to the level of savings in the Help to Buy ISA. For every £200 maintained in a Help to Buy ISA account, £50 will be paid as a bonus at the time of purchasing a first home.
The Nationwide is currently the only major savings provider that currently allows its customers to choose more than one type of cash ISA product within the Nationwide ISA portfolio, which can be combined under a single Nationwide ISA wrapper, up to the annual ISA limit of £15,240. This means that Nationwide savers can keep investing in Nationwide cash ISA products, subject to limits, as well as contributing up to £200 a month to the Nationwide Help to Buy ISA.
Chris Rhodes, Nationwide’s executive director for group retail, said: “As one of the UK’s largest mortgage and savings providers, we feel it is important to be involved in the Help to Buy ISA scheme from day one.
“Over the last four years we have demonstrated our commitment to first time buyers by lending more than £1 billion through our low deposit Save to Buy mortgages. Our involvement in the Help to Buy ISA scheme will strengthen that support.
“Nationwide customers will now be able to benefit from the government Help to Buy ISA bonus in addition to our Save to Buy initiative when buying their first home.”
