Editing Individual savings account (section)

===Cash ISA===
An account which enjoys tax-free status, usually deposit accounts with £85,000 [[Financial Services Compensation Scheme]] (FSCS) protection (but client money with £50,000 protection or unprotected money is also permitted; the providers are required to make the protection clear).<ref name=FCAISAClientMoney /> These are normally offered by banks and building societies but investment firms can also offer them. It is mandatory that money held in a cash ISA be made available on request within 15 days but it is permitted to have a loss-of-interest penalty for this, and this is how [[term deposits]] are typically made available.<ref name=FCAISAClientMoneyFinalRules>{{cite web|url=http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/policy-statements/ps14-10.pdf|title=Client money held in Individual Savings Accounts: Feedback to CP14/9 and final rules|publisher=[[Financial Conduct Authority]]|access-date=2 June 2014|quote=the ISA regulations require customers to be able to withdraw or transfer savings within 15 or 30 days (for cash ISAs or stocks and shares ISAs, respectively)}}</ref>

====Help to buy ISA====
A help to buy ISA, introduced in 2015, is a form of cash ISA that receives a government bonus if the money is used in paying the deposit on a first home purchase.<ref name=HMRCBulletin65>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/isa-manager-bulletin-65/isa-manager-bulletin-65|title=ISA Manager Bulletin 65|publisher=[[HM Revenue and Customs]]|access-date=16 March 2016|quote=From autumn 2015, savers can receive a bonus payment from the government towards their deposit for a first home if they satisfy certain conditions and have saved in a Help to Buy: ISA ... Where an ISA manager’s systems offer a number of products within a single ISA wrapper/account, HMRC do not expect the Help to Buy: ISA rules to prevent a customer using the rest of their annual ISA allowance in other cash ISA products available within the same cash ISA wrapper.}}</ref> The usual rule that any number of accounts can be held with the same ISA manager applies, and many providers offered the ability to hold both HTB and other cash ISA accounts with current year money in them. However, only one HTB ISA in total can be held, so if one wishes to put current year money into the HTB ISA, any other cash ISA current year money will also have to be paid into a cash ISA with the same provider.

The Lifetime ISA, announced in March 2016, replaces the HTB ISA. HTB accounts could be opened until 30 November 2019 and contributions can continue until 30 November 2029.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024231227/http://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 October 2015|title=Help to Buy - How does it work?|website=GOV.UK|language=en|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> An account holder can also have a Lifetime ISA, although the government bonus from only one of the accounts per person can be used for a purchase. Transfers from HTB to Lifetime ISA were allowed from the 2017-18 tax year, with transitional arrangements for that year only.<ref name="Budget2016LifetimeISA">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2016-documents/budget-2016|title=Budget 2016|publisher=[[HM Treasury]]|access-date=16 March 2016|quote=3.12 The Lifetime ISA ... from 6 April 2017 any adult under 40 will be able to open a new Lifetime ISA. They can save up to £4,000 each year and will receive a 25% bonus from the government on every pound they put in. Contributions can continue to be made with the bonus paid up to the age of 50. Funds can be used to buy a first home with the government bonus at any time from 12 months after opening the account, and can be withdrawn from the Lifetime ISA with the government bonus from age 60 for use in retirement. The government will set the limit for property purchased using Lifetime ISA funds at £450,000. ... People can continue to open a Help to Buy: ISA until November 2019, as planned. They can also choose to open a Lifetime ISA, but will only be able to use the government bonus from one of their accounts to buy their first home. During the 2017-18 tax year, those who already have a Help to Buy: ISA will be able to transfer the savings they have built up into the Lifetime ISA and still save an additional £4,000.}}</ref><ref name=TheNewLifetimeISAHTB>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508176/Lifetime_ISA_final.pdf|title=The new lifetime ISA|publisher=[[HM Treasury]]|access-date=16 March 2016|quote=Help to Buy: ISA will be open for new savers until 30 November 2019, and open to new contributions until 2029. Savers will be able to save into both a Help to Buy: ISA and a Lifetime ISA ... During the 2017-18 tax year only, those who already have a Help to Buy: ISA will be able to transfer these funds into a Lifetime ISA and receive the government bonus on those savings. }}</ref>

Help to buy ISAs have been criticised:

* Some accounts were promoted with the implication that the bonus could be put towards the deposit on a house purchase, but the bonus is only available on completion of the sale,<ref name=":0" /> and thus normally has the effect of reducing the size of the buyer's mortgage.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/savings/help-to-buy-isa-shambles-so-are-these-accounts-still-worth-it/|title=Help to Buy Isa shambles: so are these accounts still worth it?|last=Murray|first=Amelia|date=2016-08-23|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2020-01-22|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
* It was reported that the scheme – which by mid-2017 had cost taxpayers some £10 billion – had done little to increase the supply of new-build homes, and instead housebuilders had increased prices and thus their profits.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2017/oct/21/help-to-buy-property-new-build-price-rise|title=Help to buy has mostly helped housebuilders boost profits|last=Collinson|first=Patrick|date=2017-10-21|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-22|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>