"Saving into a Lifetime ISA will either help first-time buyers save their deposit quicker, or put down a larger deposit. "
It will initially be made available through The Nottingham’s branch network as part of a phased rollout that will also see an online version go-live before the end of the year. The Nottingham’s LISA can be opened with a balance of £10 and the interest rate is 1% AER.
Those opening The Nottingham’s LISA will also have free access to the building society’s whole of market mortgage service.
Over 170,000 Lifetime ISA accounts have been opened since it was launched by the government in 2017, with 102,000 of those cash LISA accounts from Skipton Building Society.
Last month, a Treasury Committee report called for the abolition of the Lifetime ISA due to "its complexity, its perverse incentives, its lack of complementarity with the pensions saving landscape and its apparent lack of popularity with the industry and pension savers".
The Nottingham’s chief operating officer, Simon Taylor, commented: “Our society was built on the founding principle of helping people put a roof over their head. We understand the many challenges facing first-time buyers saving a deposit in a competitive and crowded housing market. Saving into a Lifetime ISA will either help first-time buyers save their deposit quicker, or put down a larger deposit. As part of our unique proposition, we are also the only society who will search the whole of the mortgage market to find our members the right mortgage for them, offering the potential for even greater savings. This service will be free to Lifetime ISA savers and further demonstrates our focus on supporting first-time buyers looking at the daunting prospect of their first mortgage.
“We also have a responsibility to help our members save and plan for their long term future, and as we are all living longer in retirement, a Lifetime ISA is another simple way that our members can boost their retirement savings. It’s a genuinely beneficial savings product and we are proud to be carrying out the required investments to make it available to our members.”
Jenna McKenzie-Day, senior product manager for savings, added: “The Lifetime ISA has been one of our most talked about savings products and we’re delighted to be offering it to savers in our heartland first, with our online launch coming later in the year. We have some of the happiest building society members in the country, with 84% of those using our branch network saying they’re highly satisfied and 93% saying they would use us again, so we look forward to bringing these high standards and our modern mutual approach to customers up and down the country.”
