MPs To Question Chancellor Philip Hammond Over Help To Buy ISAs

Philip Hammond will be asked to justify the terms of the Government's controversial Help to Buy ISAs, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee has said.

Andrew Tyrie told the Daily Telegraph the committee would be asking the Chancellor about the savings scheme in the autumn.

The initiative has been criticised and labelled a sham after it emerged the 25% Government bonus on savings for a first home cannot be used towards the deposit.

Mr Tyrie, who is a Conservative MP, said: "The detailed terms of the Help to Buy ISA take some justifying.

"The Treasury select committee will be asking the Chancellor to do so in the autumn."

Under the Help to Buy scheme, which is aimed at getting first-time buyers on the housing ladder, buyers can save up to £200 each month.

When this is put towards the purchase of a home the Government adds a 25% bonus, up to £3,000.

But this is only payable upon completion, meaning it cannot be used as part of the deposit, despite many savers thinking it could.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Tory MP who is also on the Treasury select committee, called for the terms to be changed.

He told the Telegraph: "I am very unsympathetic towards the Treasury for using small print to get out of promises they made to people."