Written evidence submitted by Anonymous

Firstly, I believe the LISA’s are a great initiative and incentive to help people save towards their first property. Rather than needing a major overhaul or abolishment I believe only some slight tweaks are required to help the LISA continue to be successfully used for the reason it is intended, to assist people with their deposit for their property purchase.

Some changes that should be given serious consideration are –

• Raise the annual contribution limit from £4,000. This has been capped at this level since the LISA launched in 2017 and should be increased to incentivise further savings but also to keep up with house price inflation so that the benefit remains proportionate.  
• Increase the house price cap – the £450,000 house price limit has remained frozen since the LISA launched in 2017 whilst house prices have continued to increase so the current limit is not reflecting or keeping up with real house prices. The house price cap should be reviewed regularly, perhaps annually, to increase at least in line with inflation.
• Remove the withdrawal penalty so that savers are not punished for withdrawing their own money and instead they only lose out on the government bonus if withdrawing their own funds from their LISA. This could also be assisted by the house price cap being increased which would help reduce the situations where savers are essentially fined for withdrawing their own money to purchase a house which price exceeds the current £450,000 cap.

January 2025