Martin Lewis issues important advice to under 40s wanting to get onto the property ladder

Martin Lewis has issued important advice to any under 40s wanting to get themselves on the property ladder.

During a recent episode of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, messages were shown from fans asking for advice and thanking the bloke for his helpful tips.

I mean, if there’s one guy us Brits trust for help saving our pennies, it’s got to be Lewis.

From recommending saving challenges to warning us about travelling, the Money Saving Expert is always on hand.

And one fan wrote to Lewis to thank him for his advice on getting onto the property ladder.

The user wrote: “I put £1 in back in 2021/22 when this was mentioned, to activate. Started looking in 2022 and completed beginning of 2023.

"Thankfully I could use the LISA and I got £1,000 for free. Thank you Martin."

Lewis continued to explain to viewers why Brits should consider taking their first step on the housing ladder sooner rather than later.

You can only use a LISA (Lifetime ISA) to save towards buying your first place or retirement – but for every bit of cash you put in, the government also has to contribute.

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Advising that you can set it up with only £1, Lewis said: “You put £1 in… the clock is ticking, then when you want to use it, you can add your money in and because it’s been open a year, you can get the bonus.”

Brits can save up to £4,000 a year in a LISA and each chunk of cash you add in will have to government adding a 25 percent bonus.

So if you were to add the maximum 4k a year, then that would mean you’d get £1,000 in ‘free money’ from the state.

But Lewis warned if you withdraw from the LISA for ‘any other reason than buying a qualifying home’ then ‘they take 25 percent off’.

He warned that this ‘effectively means a 6.25 percent penalty’.

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And at the moment, you cannot buy a house over £450,000 using a LISA, despite house prices going up.

This afternoon, Lewis shared the clip from the show saying to ‘please share with anyone under 40 who’s not bought home’.

And part of that is because you can only open a LISA or Help to Buy ISA if you’re under 40.

The Money Saving Expert continues to urge: “My big tip to anyone this may be worthwhile for: get £1 in.

“You put £1 in, tick tock, tick tock, the clocks ticking.”

After a year, ‘you can add your money in, you could get the bonus’.

So there you have it lads, Lewis recommends getting a LISA ‘sooner rather than later’ and popping in a quid if you’re wanting to get onto the property ladder.

Topics: Martin Lewis, Money, UK News

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_