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I am aware that opening a new Help to Buy ISA is not possible when subscribing to another Cash ISA in the same cash year. On the other hand I've read that ISA transfers are not subject to this limit and I am supposedly allowed to transfer whenever I want.

My situation is as follows. I opened a Cash ISA last tax year with bulk balance transfer, and paid a small top-up this tax year (~£100). I want to open a Help to Buy ISA at another provider with a balance transfer from my current Cash ISA (as per the rules in the first paragraph). However, the maximum amount of initial opening balance for Help to Buy ISAs is £1,200 which is less than the balance of my Cash ISA. I'm not exactly clear what the rules are in my case.

Can I:

  • Open the Help to Buy ISA transferring only a part of my Cash ISA (leaving the rest in that Cash ISA)?
  • As above but transfer the remaining cash into another type of ISA (not cash) or the Help to Buy ISA's Cash ISA?
  • Wait until the next tax year to open the Help to Buy ISA?
  • Something else?

My preference is to open the Help to Buy ISA as soon as possible and to keep whatever money can't be transferred there in a Cash ISA.

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  • This answer, though not, I think, a duplicate, has some useful information. Essentially an HTB ISA is "just another cash ISA" (so can only contribute to one per year), but some providers treat all ISA accounts as "one thing", so where you open your HTB ISA may make a difference.
    – TripeHound
    Aug 9, 2018 at 9:27
  • Thanks. I've seen that post but I thought my situation might be different because I haven't opened the cash ISA this year, only contributed to it.
    – KubaFYI
    Aug 9, 2018 at 9:35
  • I linked that answer not because it was the same situation, but because the bit about "shared ISAs" might be relevant. As I (think) I understand it, when you opened an ISA doesn't really matter. The fact you've contributed this year means you can't open or contribute to another (cash) ISA in the same year. But if your current provider also offers HTB ISAs and they allow "pooling", it might be possible to open (and perhaps contribute to) an HTB ISA with them (but I don't know this to be the case...)
    – TripeHound
    Aug 9, 2018 at 13:03

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