The Government is committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save, and to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Lifetime ISA is intended to support younger people saving for their first home or for later life by offering a generous government bonus of 25% on up to £4,000 of savings each year. These funds, including the government bonus, can be used to purchase a first home up to the value of £450,000.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government remains of the view that the property price cap is set at an appropriate level to support most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that may find it most difficult to get onto the property ladder. The withdrawal charge is needed to protect the LISA\u2019s status as a long-term savings product. Reducing this and would encourage the use of LISAs in ways for which they were not intended.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government does not undertake an assessment of the effectiveness of the LISA by region, however the Government regularly publishes annual savings statistics, which includes information on the LISA. (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2022)<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government will continue to keep all aspects of savings tax policy under review and considers all representations made carefully, with any changes made as part of the Budget process.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4639", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bim Afolami"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hitchin and Harpenden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bim Afolami"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-01-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "7375"} , {"_value" : "7376"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-01-09T17:23:54.907Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-12-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Individual Savings Accounts: First Time Buyers"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Lifetime ISAs for helping first-time buyers in (a) Merseyside (b) St Helens.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4458", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Conor McGinn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "St Helens North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Conor McGinn"} ], "uin" : "7601"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1679096", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1679096/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, the Government recognises this is a concerning time for mortgage borrowers.<\/p>
Rising interest rates are in part driven by Bank Rate. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. The MPC continues to have the Government\u2019s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target through its independent monetary policy decisions.<\/p>
The average offered mortgage rates on 2-year and 5-year fixed rates have now fallen from their peak in the Summer.<\/p>
The Government has taken steps to limit the impact of rising interest rates on mortgage holders, through the Mortgage Charter. This Charter sets out the standards that signatory lenders \u2013 who represent over 90% of the UK mortgage market \u2013 will adopt when helping their customers.<\/p>
We have also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS), and Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. Accordingly, arrears and repossessions remain low by historical standards, despite the rise in interest costs.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4639", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bim Afolami"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hitchin and Harpenden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bim Afolami"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-01-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "7378"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-01-08T08:15:21.227Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-12-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Owner Occupation: St Helens North"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of trends in the level of interest rates on homeowners in St Helens North constituency.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4458", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Conor McGinn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "St Helens North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Conor McGinn"} ], "uin" : "7602"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }