Question Time: Are we failures for not owning a home? Is the LISA still due to be replaced? Car finance claim success!

In our Question Time podcast, Martin Lewis gives you answers on anything and everything, including: we’re in our 40s, are we failures for not owning a house? Is anything happening with the Lifetime ISA reform, or should I just take the hit and buy my first home? How does the Nationwide Fairer Share bonus work for tax if it comes into our joint account? We also have a success from someone reclaiming mis-sold car finance for a dead relative after they listened to the podcast. Plus, what shoes Martin wears, and a long-awaited ESQ badge update. If you want to ask Martin a question, you now can! His Question Time podcast lets you ask Martin absolutely anything and everything (within reason!). So, if you’ve always wanted to know which letter of the alphabet is his favourite, how many marshmallows he can fit in his mouth at any one time, or have a very complicated question about your finances, email it to [email protected] mailto:[email protected].

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

• 0:05Speaker 01

  It often starts with a question. What were lines doing in York in the third century? Why was Jeremy a lonely snail? Then we search for answers.

• 0:16Speaker 02

  It's one of the first times really that you consistently see someone painting teeth. I know that sounds bonkers.

• 0:20Speaker 03

  If I was going to define mathematics, I would say it's the study of structure.

• 0:24Speaker 01

  As I was doing the research for the programme, my jaw just dropped further and further down. In Our Time is a world-class seminar every week. Watch the discussions unfold and explore over a thousand conversations in our archive. I'm Nisha Glennie and every week I'm joined by expert guests to explore the ideas that shape our world. In Our Time. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 0:54Speaker 01

  Coffee?

• 0:55Speaker 02

  Love a cup of tea. I'll have tea too.

• 0:57Speaker 01

  Tea for me, please.

• 1:02Martin Lewis?

  Now, what is interesting about this particular payment, as you say, is it does count as interest. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear as well. You just completely let us go.

• 1:11Speaker 05

  And I just thank you for the campaigning you've been doing on Plan Two as well.

• 1:15Martin Lewis?

  You get requests for pictures of your feet.

• 1:17Speaker 06

  And they are magnificent.

• 1:19Martin Lewis?

  The best thing to do to give yourself a chance is to put the complaint. Hello and welcome to the cunningly-named The Martin Lewis podcast. I do wonder what that's going to be about. And this is our Question Time episode where you, our squires, our extremely savvy questioners, ESQs, get to ask me your questions on absolutely anything and everything, open brackets within reason, close brackets. And this week, you ask me, we're in our 40s, are we failures for not owning a house? Is the lifetime ISA reform happening? Or should I just pay the fine, get on with it and buy my first home? How does the nationwide fairer share bonus scheme work for tax purposes? Then we've got a success, they say. We found our deceased relative's motor finance details. Thank you so much.

• 2:04Martin Lewis?

  Now we're able to reclaim. And what shoes do I wear, considering I'm doing all those steps? Play the theme tune.

• 2:24Martin Lewis?

  Hello and welcome to our Question Time podcast. Yes, it's the one where you get to ask me questions on anything and everything, open brackets, within reason, closed brackets. And joining me for this, back after a very long sabbatical, is the curator of questions himself. Yes, it's Professor, Sir, Dr Matthew Andy Burnham Esquire. And you can tell I've added an extra title in there, Matt. Did you hear it?

• 2:49Speaker 06

  Yeah, it was someone's name.

• 2:51Martin Lewis?

  It was. And because I thought that as you've been away, I didn't want to take any of your titles away. And I should just say to anybody listening, all of those are legitimate titles that Matt has within the canon of this podcast, but not in real life. But within the canon of this podcast, he has all those titles. So the reason I put Andy in there is because obviously you put anything political in there. Some people will have very positive views about it. Some people have very negative views about it. And that was your slight punishment for your derogation of duty, that I'm giving you a title that is not universally seen as positive. It will be seen as very positive by some, but it will be seen as negative by others. And because I just felt, you know, you've been off six weeks, you've a derogation

• 3:32Martin Lewis?

  of duty, you've left us without, you know, we've stuck to your format, podcast producer Simon, podcast producer Matt, a different Matt to you, who've been filling in while you've been away. They have been diligently going through caller and read in the right order. We've all been scared to break it. Have you been listening?

• 3:51Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 3:53Martin Lewis?

  Honest?

• 3:54Speaker 06

  Yeah, I listened to a bit of one.

• 3:56Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so of six, so not only dereliction of duty, but I mean, you've just completely let us go.

• 4:05Speaker 06

  I've been busy.

• 4:06Martin Lewis?

  If we're down in the podcast charts, I'm blaming your lack of listening.

• 4:09Speaker 06

  That's not my fault.

• 4:10Martin Lewis?

  It is your fault. Because you should be one, making sure that you're listening to it at one of the places that they track it.

• 4:14Speaker 06

  I listened to the one where Matt Lancelley did his impression.

• 4:18Martin Lewis?

  The Australian impression.

• 4:19Speaker 06

  It was very funny. Really enjoyed that.

• 4:22Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, that's been very popular with many people.

• 4:24Speaker 06

  Yeah, that was very good. But no, I haven't listened to any of the others.

• 4:28Martin Lewis?

  So I'm also interested to... You've been busy. You've been on the holiday and at weddings and stuff.

• 4:32Speaker 06

  Busy holidays.

• 4:34Martin Lewis?

  I'm also interested, and I think I know that our listeners like to see behind the fourth wall, right? You will be putting together the best of podcasts that we're doing in the summer. Will you only be doing those episodes that you were producing and you are curator of questions in? Or will you be open to putting in questions from the other producers when they were there?

• 4:59Speaker 06

  Well, I think my diplomatic answer would be no, I will include all of the content from every episode.

• 5:03Martin Lewis?

  And the real answer?

• 5:05Speaker 06

  The real answer is absolutely not. I will only include, no.

• 5:08Martin Lewis?

  Editor Tom, are you listening?

• 5:10Speaker 06

  I will include all the things that I like that I've done, and then I might include some other things, you know.

• 5:15Martin Lewis?

  Why don't you talk to Simon and Matt about what they liked from their podcasts? And that will help you when you're putting it all together. Now, most importantly, you're back.

• 5:23Speaker 06

  I'm back.

• 5:24Martin Lewis?

  I don't want too much detail because we'll discuss this more at the end. Regular listeners will know, and this is very, very important, that if you call up this podcast, you become an Esquire and you are allowed to use the title ESQ, Extremely Savvy Questioner, or Esquire after your name, again, within the canon of the podcast only, but we're happy within that. But if you call up or you do a voice note on request from podcast producer Matt, curator of questions himself, then you get a badge. And before you went away, you said you had commissioned the badges. Now, I don't want to know what the news is, but will you have a badge update for us at the end of the podcast?

• 6:08Speaker 06

  I can confirm there is a badge update.

• 6:10Martin Lewis?

  There is a badge.

• 6:11Speaker 06

  It's very exciting.

• 6:12Martin Lewis?

  Rosie, Rosie, Rosie has a wry smile on her face. I think, I think Rosie's excited. Rosie's here again. Sorry, I'm talking about regular listeners all the time. If you're not a regular listener, well, just listen more often and you will be one in the future and you'll be able to join the club. Regular listeners know. I think we need a title for Rosie, by the way.

• 6:30Speaker 06

  Oh, someone came up with one.

• 6:31Martin Lewis?

  Oh, did they?

• 6:31Speaker 06

  Yes, let me find it. So Rob emailed and said, not a question but a suggestion. Surely Google Docs Professional Rosie, GDPR, is Rosie's title. So Google Docs Professional Rosie. What did you think of that?

• 6:45Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, Rosie created the Google Doc that we used to do the questions. So Google Docs Pro Rosie. I quite like GDPR. So GDPR, now, if you're listening, you'll know that Rosie is always here. She is fact checking me live as we go, because when you're doing something like this and I'm answering, I don't always hear what comes out of my mouth. And she's absolutely brilliant, but she doesn't speak in the podcast.

• 7:05Speaker 06

  No.

• 7:06Martin Lewis?

  She's this unseen, all powerful figure with oversight over the entire podcast. Does eyebrows get raised? Smiles happen, frowns happen, but voice?

• 7:17Speaker 06

  No.

• 7:18Martin Lewis?

  No. No, you don't get to hear what Rosie sounds like, do they, Rosie? She shrugged. I thought, I was expecting a shake of the head, we got a shrug there. Got a shrug. Anyway, we should probably get on with it.

• 7:30Martin Lewis?

  Right, Matt, let's get into the first one. What question do you have for me?

• 7:35Speaker 06

  Actually, let's change it up a little bit. Shall we do a success?

• 7:39Martin Lewis?

  Oh, look at that. Look at that, he's just flouting his authority. I'm back, I'm the curator of questions, I'm in charge, I can break the format if I choose.

• 7:50Speaker 06

  Absolutely. This one's from-

• 7:52Martin Lewis?

  Come on, big boy Matthew Burnham, what have you got for me?

• 7:53Speaker 06

  This one's from Chris, he's emailed in, he says, hi, Martin and this week's producer. It's, it's me.

• 7:58Martin Lewis?

  It's Matt's back. We can start playing that trail again, that's me and you arguing, Tom, now.

• 8:02Speaker 06

  No, Matt, no, Martin. He says, I heard on a recent podcast, someone talking about how they were looking to submit a finance claim for a deceased relative. I too am in that position. My mother-in-law has passed away and she had a finance agreement for a car, but going through all her paperwork, we had none of the details. I tried to use the Equifax app, but it requires you to sign up with photo ID, such as a passport or driver's licence, and then verify your face against this. Unable to proceed further with this method, I then called Equifax and was advised to write to them. With that, I included a copy of the executor's ID, proof of executor's address, copy of the death certificate- Completed Equifax application form in the name of the deceased and a copy of the will as proof of being an executor. Three weeks later, I've had a reply and now have

• 8:47Speaker 06

  the details of the car finance agreements. The bonus is that they've sent details of the last three that she had dating back to 2008 and we were only expecting one. Thanks for the great podcast. It is one of the best produced ones.

• 8:59Martin Lewis?

  And presented, surely.

• 9:01Speaker 06

  No, just produced.

• 9:02Martin Lewis?

  Oh, Chris, I'm so delighted. Thank you very much. So we covered this in the Question Time podcast about four weeks ago where we had someone who was talking about, or maybe even a little longer ago.

• 9:12Speaker 06

  It was longer because I was there.

• 9:13Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so it must be at least six weeks ago where we had someone who was talking about how you claim on behalf of a deceased relative. And I went in detail about how you do that. But the Equifax app, which is how you find details of car finance agreements you don't know about, was the stumbling block. And I went through this process then and said, having spoken to Equifax, that the thing to do was that you had to go online. You don't have to pay, but you have to register with them and you have to do this manual process with them. And I said at the time, please let me know how it goes. And that is the first feedback that it works. So I'm really delighted to hear that, Chris. And I think that will help many people to know that you can go through that. Now, obviously you have to be the right person. Chris had all the documentation and the detail to be

• 9:57Martin Lewis?

  able to go through that. He was able to get the information. The next step in the process, I suspect Chris knows, but just for everybody else, is if you have not put in a complaint yet, whether for yourself or for a deceased relative, you are always better to be putting a complaint in than not. Two reasons. One, that that brings you forward in the queue and people who complain will get paid out quicker than the people who don't, even though the firms still have to track you down if you were mis-sold otherwise. And two, because especially for deceased relatives, there can be identification problems of who is the natural person that the money and the assets need to pass on to if it's going to be paid. And there are ID problems, even if you're claiming for yourself. Do they still have your details? Has the paperwork been got rid of, especially for older claims?

• 10:40Martin Lewis?

  So putting in a complaint is important. There are free template tools online that can do all of this for you. When you're using those tools. If you're claiming for a deceased relative, just make sure that you put in as well as the deceased relative details, you put in a note and it won't be in the tool, but you can easily add it in the way most of the tools work. You can put in notes saying, I'm claiming on behalf of deceased relative, I'm the primary beneficiary or I am the executor of the will. And these are my contact details or the other details, like the address when you have the policy should be of the deceased relative. So it is relatively easy to do. The other thing people ask me just to finish is when is all this going to happen?

• 11:19Martin Lewis?

  When the FCA first launched its mass redress scheme earlier in the year, we were told it would start in July, but there are four court challenges to it. To be fair, that's not the FCA. Those are three companies, car finance companies and one effectively it's a claims firm who will be doing the legal challenge itself. And therefore we have to wait on the courts. What I'm generally hearing is the hope is that the scheme will start in November, which means the first payouts will now be in 2027 and some of the payouts will be taking as long as 2028. Don't let that put you off though. I mean, it isn't guaranteed this will still happen, but you still the best thing to do to give yourself a chance is to put the complaint in. And thank you so much for that success, Chris. And well done for doing it first, Matt. You seem to be nice. It's your first one back.

• 12:02Speaker 06

  Thank you.

• 12:05Martin Lewis?

  So I presume, I mean, you've got to follow your own format. We've been rigidly following the Matt Burnham format while you've been away with fear from all of the other producers that they will get your wrath if they don't follow that even numbers are callers. So I presume we're going into a caller, Matt.

• 12:23Speaker 06

  We are. I just want to say I'm not a scary person and I do not, I would not enforce this. Sometimes I want to stray from it, but do you know who won't let me?

• 12:31Martin Lewis?

  Who?

• 12:32Speaker 06

  You.

• 12:32Martin Lewis?

  Well, that's true to an extent. I don't like you passing the buck back in this way, but let's just, let's just say that even though IRL, you may not be a scary person. This is about the canon of the podcast, Matt.

• 12:44Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 12:44Martin Lewis?

  You can be something different in the canon of the, with all those titles. I mean, what you are the Professor Sir, Dr. Matthew Burnham Asquire.

• 12:51Speaker 06

  That's true.

• 12:52Martin Lewis?

  You're quite an authority figure.

• 12:53Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 12:53Martin Lewis?

  You know, people want your approval.

• 12:55Speaker 06

  That's true.

• 12:55Martin Lewis?

  I mean, I don't know whether it's fear or approval that they want. So I mean, no one, no one wants to vary from the Burnham line.

• 13:01Speaker 06

  Okay. Shall we go to our caller?

• 13:04Martin Lewis?

  Yes.

• 13:05Speaker 06

  Okay. Sarah is in Alton and she's with us. Hi Sarah.

• 13:08Martin Lewis?

  Hi. Hello, Sarah. Hello. What can we do for you? Hello. Hello. And I have a slightly obscure.

• 13:16Speaker 02

  Situation and I wanted to ask, um, so my husband and I are both in our late forties now, uh, almost debt free with really good incomes.

• 13:25Martin Lewis?

  Great.

• 13:25Speaker 02

  But we're not currently on the housing ladder because we've previously gone through divorces and ended up coming out with nothing but debt unfortunately. So we're wondering at this stage, is it worth us struggling to get on the housing ladder?

• 13:41Martin Lewis?

  It it is a really interesting question. I mean, the the plain answer is, is it worth us struggling? Well, no, we don't want you to struggle. But if we get rid of that sort of that judgment in there and say, is it worth you getting on the housing ladder? Now, for a long time, I've been one of those people who has always said renting isn't a dirty word. And it isn't. And I think we're far too negative about renting in the in this country. I think the property porn TV shows have pushed people to stretch themselves beyond their limit to buy a home. But I still think for a long period of time, it is often optimal to own if you can so that the money you are paying for housing each month is going towards buying you an asset as opposed to going towards paying off somebody else's purchase on the asset,

• 14:27Martin Lewis?

  which is ultimately what you tend to be doing on renting. So, I mean, you you say you're in your late forties, you've still got you know, a a good fifteen years of earning potential left. You've got decent amount of savings which should make it easier to get a deposit. So, I mean, I I wouldn't necessarily poo poo buying. But have you looked at the cost differences between renting and what a mortgage would cost you on a similar property in your area?

• 14:54Speaker 02

  Uh, well, we couldn't afford a a similar property in our area. Unfortunately, we we could at best probably get a two bedroom house.

• 15:01Martin Lewis?

  Well, that was good. I was going to change the question that way around. So if you couldn't afford a similar property, could you happily change your life to live in a property that wasn't a similar property that you could own?

• 15:14Speaker 02

  Only if we chuck out old kids, which my husband's quite keen to do, but I'm slightly more attached to them. So we've got three daughters, aged, two are eighteen and one's nineteen, one's working and the other two are going to university soon. And we've managed to talk them out of taking out an extra student loan so they can live on campus. So they're going to be living home with us. So it would be a bit of a squeeze, but we could find a way to do it. I think they do triple bunk beds now, don't they? So they could stick them all in the same room.

• 15:47Martin Lewis?

  I mean, also, let's be honest, we're talking three years probably, aren't we? While they're still at university. So, you know, you're talking a three year course. We're not talking forever and decisions don't have to be made forever. And you can, I mean, ultimately, if you don't, if you don't want to get onto the housing ladder, then it's perfectly possible for you to say, what else can we do with our money in that term that may enable us to get on the housing ladder in five years' time, if that's what we choose to do. I don't know how much savings you've got.

• 16:15Speaker 02

  We've only just started saving because we've been paying off debts. We've been hammering down what debts we had.

• 16:20Martin Lewis?

  I misunderstood the phrasing earlier. So you're in the start point of saving?

• 16:24Speaker 02

  Well, yes.

• 16:25Martin Lewis?

  Ultimately, but, but it sounds to me like you may be able to save a relatively substantial amount each month now the debts are paid off.

• 16:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, it should, we should be able to put aside about thirteen hundred pounds a month.

• 16:37Martin Lewis?

  Okay, well, that's a decent whack. I mean, that should get you there. And again, the bigger the deposit you have, certainly when you're building up to it, the better and more able you should be able to get a mortgage and the lower rate you get a mortgage because of loan to value ratios. So a loan to value ratio, for those who don't know, is what percentage of your house's value you're borrowing. So the bigger deposit you have, the more savings you have, the lower the percentage of your house's value you're borrowing, and down to around sixty percent, you know, if you're borrowing ninety percent, you don't get as good a rate generally as if borrowing eighty percent and seventy percent is better than eighty percent and sixty percent is better than all of them. And below that, it doesn't really change. So building a deposit would be good. I think one of

• 17:18Martin Lewis?

  the decisions you have to make is if you're not buying a house now, when do you think you would want to do so?

• 17:27Speaker 02

  That's the tricky question. I think we do, we would like to buy a house sooner rather than later. Because my concern is that money that we're supposed to be saving for a deposit is going to get frittered away and spent on things that are pointless and not helping us. And the other concern is if we're not, if we get on the housing ladder sooner, obviously, we can get a longer term mortgage. The longer we leave it in the time in which we're saving up a deposit, the smaller the mortgage term will be considered for and therefore our affordability will be affected. So we kind of feel like every way we turn, we hit a brick wall and it's not really clear what is the best way out of this situation.

• 18:11Martin Lewis?

  I don't think you're hitting a brick wall as much as you think. Once you get to retirement, they will look at your retirement income. The days where you can't get a mortgage once you hit retirement are gone. So, but of course, they will assess if your mortgage term goes into retirement, what retirement funds you have. They will look at what pension funds you have and what income you would potentially have coming in in your retirement. So that would have to be factored into the equation. Okay, I'll be honest, and not in a bad way, but I'm getting mixed messages from you, I think. And I think that's probably, that's probably a symptom of the difficulty in the decision. If you're, if you're getting thirteen hundred pounds a month to save, then you can easily, I don't know what area you're in, so I don't know what typical house values you're looking at. Do you know roughly?

• 18:54Speaker 02

  So we're probably looking around four hundred thousand, well, anywhere between three and four hundred thousand, depending on whether we go for a two bed or a three bed.

• 19:02Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so you're looking therefore, you're going to be wanting to aim to be saving around forty thousand pounds. I would think, because you want a ten percent deposit is much cheaper mortgage than a five percent deposit, and that's a good place to start. So on that basis, at thirteen hundred pounds a month, you're talking two, two and a half years away. So there is an argument here that says, planning now to save that so that you can do it the moment the kids are out of university sort of does seem to make a bit of rational sense to me. Because you're going to need that time to build up the savings anyway, and at the same time, they're at home and you're not going to want to move to a smaller place. In terms of you say you'll fritter the money away, why will you fritter it away?

• 19:44Speaker 02

  Because life is like that for us, we just find that, you know, a car breaks down or a child needs this, or particularly with them at the age that they're at, it tends to be money just falls through our fingertips. If it's going into a mortgage, it feels like it's locked away and safe and we can't be wasting it on things like that.

• 20:04Martin Lewis?

  We can sort of replicate that to an extent. So you could put the money into fixed rate savings where the money is locked away for a set term, which means if, if what you don't say is you, you don't trust your future selves to make the right decision once this is locked away, then you know, for example, every four or five months, you could take the money you've saved. So we'll work on a rough basis that that's going to be about six and a half grand. And you could lock that into a one or two year fixed rate savings account where you get a guaranteed rate and you know what it's going to pay, or a fixed rate cash ISA, so that you know you can't touch it. Would that help with this personal self-discipline?

• 20:38Speaker 02

  I think it would, actually. I think that would massively help.

• 20:41Martin Lewis?

  So, I mean, while the problem with fixes is you normally have to fund them within the first 30 or 60 days. So what I'm suggesting is you put this money, I'm going away from my investing talk earlier, because if you're going to want this money in three years' time, that's probably too short a period to be looking at. You put this money in the top easy access savings, you can get somewhere like the Chase account or Trading 212 if it's a cash ISA and you're using your cash ISAs, you're making sure you're not paying tax on this. Then every six months or so, you take whatever you've got in there, making sure you've got a cash emergency fund and you put that into the top one or two year, depending on your timeline, fix that's available at that point, not just because it gives you a guaranteed rate of interest, but because it locks the money away. And if it's in a fix, especially fixed savings, you can't get that money out. And therefore it's gone

• 21:26Martin Lewis?

  and it's no longer in your choice. And I think there is, you know, knowing yourself and knowing that you will be tempted to fritter that cash away, you know, is important to try and find a way to protect yourself from yourself. And I think that may well help. It sounds to me like you're a little too early in the journey to be seeing the mortgage broker. I would go to one later. Or you might want to build a relationship now and just see what they'd say and how much you'd be able to borrow and what the situation is in your area. But certainly I would be pumping your money into savings and sort of have a timeline of three years to be really looking at this, to be building up that deposit. At that point, you'll be what? You'll be in your early 50s, both of you, will you?

• 22:04Speaker 02

  Yes, we will.

• 22:05Martin Lewis?

  I think there's still a good chance. I don't think you should lose hope. I think there's still a good chance you can get the home. And by then, it might be that it's a more affordable two-bed house. Of course, there's a chance house prices go up in the meantime. Uh, but that, that, that just seems like it's a cost of having to try to do what you need to do. There, you're right, there's no perfect answer here.

• 22:24Speaker 02

  No, well, I mean, I had a few weird suggestions, but my husband's not so keen, so.

• 22:29Martin Lewis?

  Do you want to tell me?

• 22:31Speaker 02

  I suggested to him.

• 22:33Speaker 02

  You might think they're completely nuts, but I was suggesting that we buy the best two-bed house that we can afford in our area, in the nicest area. And I don't know if you've seen, you can get these um sort of prefab extensions that you can put in your garden. And that would suit the kids while they're at home and give us the house. Is that completely nuts?

• 22:54Martin Lewis?

  Well, it's not completely nuts, but it's, it's a pure lifestyle thing. I mean, that's not something I can help you with, but ultimately you have to look on what's the planning permission issue? Will there be enough space in the garden? Do you want it to work that way? Would the kids be happy going that way? How long would it take you to actually manage to deliver that? Because clearly you're not in a position, from listening to you, that you can sell your house, you can buy a new house while you still own your existing house. So what would, what would be the transition arrangement from going that into getting the prefab built in and would it really fit? I don't think it's nuts at all, but I think it would take a lot of work and planning to get it right.

• 23:31Speaker 02

  Okay, okay. I think that's pretty much where my husband was coming from, so.

• 23:35Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 23:35Speaker 02

  I was kind of hoping you, you would tell me what I wanted to hear and that I could, I could play in the podcast and say I was right, but okay.

• 23:42Martin Lewis?

  No, I don't, I don't think it's wrong. I, I, I just think you need to do some research into the feasibility of it. And what you're also doing is you're limiting your, your, your two-bedroom house choice, if you think about it. Because what you're doing is you're effectively saying, I need a house which will be able to fit that in the garden. And it's going to have to work that way. I mean, there is another way of looking at this, which may not be perfect right now, but you might want to look at is in terms of getting on the property ladder, it is worth exploring and you might, you might simply not be able to afford it. And there are risks involved would be getting a buy to let property that you would later live in, that you're planning to live in in a certain period. But there are lots of risks involved in that in that while even though under the rent new rental rights law, you would be able to giving

• 24:27Martin Lewis?

  adequate notice to get tenants to go when you wanted to move into it yourself. It's whether you would have enough income coming into it to be able to pay the mortgage in the meantime, while you weren't living in it, so that you wouldn't be having to do that from your existing house. And you tend to need a bigger deposit on a buy to let house than you do on your own home. But that, that is another way. If you wanted to get on the housing ladder now is to look at what feasibility of a buy to let mortgage on a property that you would want to live in in three years' time and to start looking at buying that now.

• 24:57Speaker 02

  Okay, that, that sounds a bit more sort of pleasing in terms of the dopamine fix of going out there and getting on the housing ladder and, and knowing that that's solid and it's there.

• 25:07Martin Lewis?

  It's solid and it's there, but there are risks involved. There are costs involved in renting a property out and there are risks involved in, in not being able to rent it out and it being fallow and you being liable for that mortgage as well as your rent. So it is absolutely not a panacea. It is an option. I'm, I'm moving back to, I would like you to go and find a decent mortgage broker, look at what your buy to let ability is, look properly at what type of mortgage you'll be able to get and how you get yourself in the position to do what you want to do. And, and I want you to talk to the mortgage broker, both because I, listen, I think a buy to let mortgage would be quite difficult for you to get, but it is always worth just exploring and

• 25:49Martin Lewis?

  having that conversation, but also seeing your general bigger picture. But you know what? Can I, can I just remind you, this playing back to what you said to me, um, both you and your husband were in debt. You have managed to get yourself out of debt. You've got a property over your head and you've got your three daughters with you. You've got enough income coming in that you're being able to save a substantial amount each month. You're not doing that badly. You, you, you maybe need to be a bit more, if you forgive me saying, glass half full than glass half empty.

• 26:21Speaker 02

  Oh, absolutely. I do agree. And it it comes back to, I think, feeling like you're being irresponsible by not aspiring to be on the housing ladder. There seems to be that general feeling in society that if you're not a homeowner, you're failing at life. And I think that's that's where we really struggle with our situation. We know we're we're very lucky and we appreciate everything that we have. We've worked very hard to get into the situation that we're in and we do appreciate that.

• 26:49Martin Lewis?

  And you've done really well.

• 26:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, if we could just shut out that noise that, you know, if you're not a homeowner, you failed in life in your forties, that that I think would bring us a lot of peace and we'd be happier picking any route because it feels like we're very lucky to have so many options, but it it comes back to that feeling of you failed, um.

• 27:12Martin Lewis?

  Well, I don't I don't I disagree. I started early on by saying it's it's peculiar to this country in many ways compared to the rest of Europe that renting is seen as a dirty term. Right. And I absolutely don't think it is the case. There is nothing, and I think I need to differentiate between you're saying the aspiration of home owning and home owning. You have to do what is right and sound and stable for your finances. And that's what keeps you and your husband and your children protected. Now, in some cases, that is buying a house. In some cases, it isn't. And overstretching yourself to get a property that you don't want, that could lead to financial problems later on, is actually not a good thing. Which is why in this is sort of the difference between what I would say and what the the property people say, because they're always overextend yourself and get whatever you can.

• 27:57Martin Lewis?

  I I think you need to look after your finances first. So it has to be done within that and you're doing that and you're asking the right questions and you're thinking the right things. So I think anybody who would judge you, although I think it's more about you judging yourself on this basis, anyone who would judge you on that level, they need to take a step back and think about the financial realities that you you know, you demonstrate the bigger, one of the biggest reasons people are in debt in this country is not overspending. It tends to be change of circumstance. And the loss of a partner, divorce, mental health, losing your job, issues with your kids, they're all change of circumstance. And that's life and you're dealing with it and you're thinking the right way. The only thing that the only thing I would and it's not a judgment call, but I would say back to you is.

• 28:41Martin Lewis?

  You need to get out of the mindset of we will fritter this away. If you want it to happen, you need to find the self-discipline or the enforced self-discipline, such as locking money away in a fix, if that's right for you, that will enable you to keep control of your own finances. Everything else that you've done, there's no judgment going on. That's the one thing I would say, that actually, maybe you need to trust yourself a little bit more and to be, make some decisions and stick to them and try and work out how you can stick to them. But the situation you're in, you've done nothing wrong, you're not failures, you're doing really well. Sounds like you've got three wonderful daughters and you've got a roof over the head and one's working and two are going to university. Well done you.

• 29:21Speaker 07

  Thank you, thank you, that's so kind. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear as well.

• 29:26Martin Lewis?

  Oh, well, good.

• 29:28Speaker 07

  It sort of goes a bit beyond buying the house, it's about how you view yourself and your financial position. I'm so grateful, thank you so much.

• 29:35Martin Lewis?

  That's my pleasure, thank you so much for calling, Sarah. I, I hope it goes well. Come back and talk to us in a year's time and see where you are, Wiggy.

• 29:43Speaker 07

  Oh, yes.

• 29:44Martin Lewis?

  Keep in touch with, with the curator of questions himself.

• 29:48Speaker 07

  Will I get a second badge?

• 29:50Martin Lewis?

  Oh, oh, we haven't, we haven't, oh, that's policy. Matt, what, Matt, what's our policy on people?

• 29:56Speaker 06

  That's tricky.

• 29:56Martin Lewis?

  I don't know.

• 29:57Speaker 06

  Well, find out number, I'd say, if you've already got one, do you need a second?

• 30:02Speaker 07

  Oh, I'm not greedy, but it's the status.

• 30:06Martin Lewis?

  I actually, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna disagree to an extent, Matt.

• 30:09Speaker 06

  Okay, okay.

• 30:10Martin Lewis?

  So, I actually think, you get a badge for coming on. We want to, we've invited Sarah to come back.

• 30:17Speaker 06

  Yes, actually.

• 30:18Martin Lewis?

  For us to deprive her of a badge if she came back a second time.

• 30:21Speaker 06

  You are true, you are right.

• 30:23Martin Lewis?

  Right, would be inappropriate. I think you get a badge for each appearance, but we'll cap it at five.

• 30:28Speaker 06

  Okay. So, yeah, next year, get in touch with me and we'll see if we can get you another badge.

• 30:34Martin Lewis?

  All right, thanks so much for calling, Sarah.

• 30:36Speaker 07

  Thank you so much.

• 30:37Speaker 06

  Thanks, Sarah.

• 30:38Martin Lewis?

  Sarah's gone now, that, that's one of those interesting ones, Matt, those interesting questions, because there are no rights or wrongs here and there are so many different options, you know, I talked about buy to let for the house they were going to live in, of course, you could also look about, if you want to get on the property ladder, getting a smaller buy to let that might be more affordable to get, but then they wouldn't have the advantage of living in it, and I don't think that's really the philosophy. But I think you can only in life, you're, you are in the position that you are in. And and there's no point, and there's certainly no reason in that case of kicking yourself when actually you're far better to expend your energy on what do I do next and where do I go than to expend your energy on why am I here and why am I in this position?

• 31:19Martin Lewis?

  And that's sort of what I was trying to get Sarah towards. I mean, it's less financial than we normally talk about, but I think it was, I I hope it was useful and interesting anyway.

• 31:29Speaker 06

  Also, one thing that struck me was that she said that she feels like she has to buy a house. Do you think, do you think that we have to, that people think we have to buy houses? Because I don't own my home.

• 31:40Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, but to be fair, you're young, you're you're in your twenties.

• 31:44Speaker 06

  Late twenties.

• 31:44Martin Lewis?

  But you're still in your twenties.

• 31:45Speaker 06

  True.

• 31:46Martin Lewis?

  And listen, I didn't buy my first property till I was thirty three. So I I certainly, I mean, I always get worried when eighteen year olds say, I'm not on the property ladder. It's like, well, hold on, let's just think about it and take your time and go through that. But it is, it is the British ideal in many ways is to own a property. And that's what's coming. That's what Sarah was thinking about there, is this whole idea that I own my own castle and I live in it and my life and and therefore I'm sorted and the way through. And I think that works for some. It doesn't work for all people and isn't always the best thing. You know, if you buy a property at the wrong time and house prices are declining and you get put in negative equity, owning a home can be absolutely catastrophic. But if you're buying over the long time in an affordable way, and you're looking for

• 32:27Martin Lewis?

  it as a long term place to live, as a place to trade, then it it is a generally a sensible option to be going for.

• 32:37Martin Lewis?

  That was all very interesting. I'm sure you've got another interesting one for me now. I presume this is a read.

• 32:42Speaker 06

  A read, yes. Let's stick to the original format. Lucas from Leeds has emailed this in to [email protected]. He says, hi, Eminem.

• 32:50Martin Lewis?

  Nice.

• 32:51Speaker 06

  I like that.

• 32:51Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, sweet.

• 32:52Speaker 06

  I had quite a few Eminems on my holiday, actually.

• 32:54Martin Lewis?

  Which type?

• 32:55Speaker 06

  Um, well, the peanut and peanut butter.

• 32:59Martin Lewis?

  I do like a peanut butter M and M.

• 33:01Speaker 06

  Peanut butter too.

• 33:01Martin Lewis?

  Tougher to get in this country and more in the States.

• 33:03Speaker 06

  Yeah, well, that's, yeah.

• 33:05Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, yeah, I like a peanut butter M and M.

• 33:06Speaker 06

  Very nice, very sweet, but very nice.

• 33:09Martin Lewis?

  Highly calorific, though.

• 33:10Speaker 06

  Yes, but delicious.

• 33:11Martin Lewis?

  Very high in calories.

• 33:11Speaker 06

  Anyway, enough about M and M's. Uh, Lucas says, thanks to your tips, I was lucky enough to get a hundred pounds in the Nationwide's fairer share payment. The account I received it into is a shared account which I hold with my wife. My question is, how will this pay be treated from a tax perspective? I know it will be treated as interest, but whose allowance will it fall in? Is it split fifty fifty between both of us? And is that what Nationwide will report to HMRC? Thanks for all your help.

• 33:37Martin Lewis?

  What an interesting question. Yes, the Nationwide fairer share payment is, uh, it's a hundred pound payment, uh, this year and in previous years. Effectively, it's a loyalty bonus for existing Nationwide customers who fulfil certain criteria. Now, what is interesting about this particular payment, as you say, is it does count as interest. Now, if you get a bank switching bonus, that is seen as an incentive as opposed to a reward for an existing customer. So that is not taxable, the same as cash back on credit cards is not taxable. But because this is effectively a benefit of a mutual organisation, Nationwide is of

• 34:20Martin Lewis?

  course a building society and is a, is a, is a membership payout, that is taxable and it's taxable as interest. So for those people who earn above their personal savings allowance of a thousand pounds a year as a basic rate taxpayer or five hundred pounds a year as a higher rate taxpayer, you would have to pay tax on the hundred pounds. If you earn less, you won't have to pay tax on the hundred pounds, or if you're a non-taxpayer, you won't have to pay tax on the hundred pounds. So yes, unlike interest, if you have joint savings, the interest payment is demarked fifty fifty. The Nationwide fairer share in a joint bank account is demarked fifty fifty. I haven't asked Nationwide if that's what they report to HMRC, but that is exactly

• 35:02Martin Lewis?

  what, what the situation is, so I can't see any reason why that isn't what they would report to HMRC. So yes, you should consider this to be fifty pounds each. Simple as that.

• 35:13Speaker 06

  A long answer for a very short answer.

• 35:17Martin Lewis?

  Hold on. No, a long answer for a very short answer.

• 35:20Speaker 06

  Well, a long explanation is what I meant for a very short answer.

• 35:23Martin Lewis?

  Well, you know, sometimes when I talk to my Uncle Tony.

• 35:26Speaker 06

  I've met him.

• 35:27Martin Lewis?

  Have you met Uncle Tony?

• 35:28Speaker 06

  I was at the recording.

• 35:28Martin Lewis?

  You have. So Uncle Tony, who for years was effectively my sort of finance director when I was running Money Saving Expert by myself. Uncle Tony will often answer, short answer, yes, long answer, and then explanation. And I sort of did it in reverse.

• 35:48Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 35:49Martin Lewis?

  I mean, I sort of did, and I could have done, but this is, this is a podcast.

• 35:52Speaker 06

  It's a podcast.

• 35:52Martin Lewis?

  And if I'd literally just said.

• 35:54Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 35:54Martin Lewis?

  It's 50 50 and not give an explanation and said the interesting thing, it wouldn't be good listening, Matt.

• 35:59Speaker 06

  No, it would have been a much shorter podcast.

• 36:01Martin Lewis?

  You know, you've come back from your holiday, you're out there with your nails out, coming to berate me over my answer system. But I think I gave the right answer within the podcast format. Did I not?

• 36:11Speaker 06

  No, you did, definitely. And also I messed up on what I was saying. So I look like the fool, not you.

• 36:18Martin Lewis?

  No, you never look like a fool, Matt.

• 36:20Speaker 06

  Oh, he always looked like a fool.

• 36:21Martin Lewis?

  I mean, no man who is a professor and a sir and a doctor could ever look like a fool.

• 36:25Speaker 06

  And an esquire.

• 36:26Martin Lewis?

  And an esquire.

• 36:29Martin Lewis?

  Okay, Matt, even number, it's a caller.

• 36:33Speaker 06

  It's a caller. It's Jason in Enfield and he's with us. Hi, Jason.

• 36:37Speaker 05

  Hi, Martin. Hi, Matt. Thanks for taking my question.

• 36:40Martin Lewis?

  A pleasure. Hello, Jason. What can I do for you?

• 36:43Speaker 05

  Well, back in December, Martin, I was actually in the live audience of another popular show that you do.

• 36:49Martin Lewis?

  Maybe a television show?

• 36:51Speaker 05

  Yes, maybe, yes. And during that show, you played a clip of your interview with the Chancellor about lifetime ISAs. And during that, she promised a consultation early in this year about a brand new first time buyer's ISA. And I've got a couple of questions off the back of that.

• 37:09Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, sure, go for it.

• 37:11Speaker 05

  Right, so my situation, I've had a cash LISA since 2019 and I've managed to max it out pretty much every year since then. But when I opened it, I was a single guy in my mid twenties and I was just thinking about getting on to the ladder with a small flat. That was going to be well under the price cap of 450,000, the limit on the lifetime LISA. However, now me and my partner are looking to buy our first house in London. And as you probably know from the house prices, it's really difficult to find anything within that limit. So I'm trying to decide between three options on my next steps. I'm deciding if I want to take the hit and withdraw it now for a deposit, or should I keep it in

• 37:55Speaker 05

  cash and wait for the rules to change with the new product, or should I just transfer it to a stock and shares LISA for retirement?

• 38:06Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so let's just go through this in a little bit of detail. You're right, that is exactly what the Chancellor said, that is exactly what we were expecting, but we were probably expecting the world to be a little bit different at the time. And I don't think the government at the time were expecting quite the level of instability. Now, for those people listening, we are recording this on the day of the Mayors' Field by-election. So you listening will know what's happened and you will know whether Andy Burnham has won or not, and whether there is to be a challenge to the leadership, or you might not know that bit yet, but whether there's expected to be a challenge to the leadership. And all of that, of course, affects the decisions that the government make and the security of the Chancellor, because the new LISA was very much coming from the Chancellor and

• 38:51Martin Lewis?

  the Treasury. And I would like to give you, Jason, my impression of where we are with the LISA. Are you ready for it?

• 39:00Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 39:05Martin Lewis?

  It's just gone very quiet.

• 39:07Speaker 06

  I wonder what that was then?

• 39:08Martin Lewis?

  It's just gone very quiet. It was sort of halfway between tumbleweed and nothing was what I was going for. I'm not sure I managed to get it right, but I tried. And so, interestingly, just the meetings I've been supposed to be having to talk to powers that be on it, they haven't happened yet. Right, so I think it's a bit on the back burner at the moment. Now, that is the last thing that you want to hear. And I remember saying at the time to the Chancellor, and in that interview that you saw, that, you know, so what do people who've got current licenses do? And she said, continue as always as they were before, and you shouldn't be put off doing them because the license wage regime will stay. But the problem for you is this 450,000 property cap,

• 39:52Martin Lewis?

  which has been in place since 2017, and it's never gone up with inflation. And you will know, I've been campaigning to get them, that if you're at least buying your first time property and it's above 450,000, while you might not get the 25% bonus, you shouldn't have the penalty for using it. And you'll know all about that. And I thought I'd go to Jeremy Hunt first, and I thought I'd go with Rachel Reeves, and it hasn't happened. So, I think all we can do at the moment is make a decision based on what we know right now. So go through your three options again for me.

• 40:26Speaker 05

  So the first option would be to take the hit, the 25% penalty, which would be quite a large amount of money for me, but I would do that and then use it towards a deposit now, or wait a year or two to see if the rules change. And, or if not that, I would transfer it into a stocks and shares lifetime ISA and just use it as a retirement pot instead, which would also delay the house purchase as well.

• 40:53Martin Lewis?

  So just to explain to people, the penalty of withdrawal is 25%, but you've already had a bonus of 25% on that money. So the net effect is you would have about six and a quarter percent less than you originally put in. So it, you know, and it's probably even though you're looking at your account saying I've got 40 grand in there and they're going to be taking off 10 grand of it. Ultimately, some of that money was given to you by the state. So your, your net reduction is not as bad, although it's still bad. Don't get me wrong.

• 41:24Speaker 05

  Right, okay.

• 41:25Martin Lewis?

  Do you know what I'm trying to say?

• 41:26Speaker 05

  Yes, yeah.

• 41:28Martin Lewis?

  How much worse would you be not, would you be off than had you just put it in a normal savings account? And the answer is about six and a quarter percent as opposed to the 25%.

• 41:36Speaker 05

  Right, okay.

• 41:38Martin Lewis?

  None of which is that positive, but it might help frame the decision for you in a way.

• 41:43Speaker 05

  Yes, yeah.

• 41:44Martin Lewis?

  If I hadn't used a LISA, I would only have six and a quarter percent more money than I, well, it's not quite that, it's a reciprocal, but I'd only have a little bit more money than I do right now. Again, I'm not justifying it. I, I don't like, I've given evidence on it against that penalty. I don't like it, but still. It, it's really tough. It's really tough. Let's go with the last option, you saying, do you know what? I'm going to use this towards retirement savings, then I don't have to pay a penalty. If you did that, would that stop you buying a property?

• 42:11Speaker 05

  It wouldn't stop me buying a property. It would delay it a little bit or make my mortgage monthly payment increase, but that would be the, the price to pay for that.

• 42:21Martin Lewis?

  If you left the money, where are you with buying a house? I mean, that's, I think it all comes down to you. Right? I mean, you can certainly leave it in a lifetime ISA and see what happens. Is there, where, what do I think on the balance of probabilities? Do I think there is the chance they will either introduce a new product that you could put the money over to or change the existing LISA rules to at least get that amount to rise with inflation? Yes, I think that is plausible. If you'd asked me six months ago, I would have said it was probable. I would now say it's plausible. So that's, I'm just giving you a level of percentage on that, if you see what I mean. I've gone from probably over 50% to under 50%, but still perfectly possible that it would happen.

• 43:03Martin Lewis?

  So there is a chance that you could hold off for a year and things, you could be in a different situation in a year, but equally you could be exactly where you are now. And when I say I don't know that, I don't know that because I don't actually believe at this point anybody knows that, because I don't think there is anything firm in place. So rather than it's a lack of my knowledge, it's a lack of anybody's actually decided what on earth is going to be happening here, which and all that flux is terrible for you.

• 43:32Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 43:32Martin Lewis?

  So if you were to, if you were to take this money out, if you were to ignore it, ignore the penalty which you hate, understandably, right, but let's just, let's just factor that out for a second and say the reality is you've got whatever it is, thirty thousand pounds, not forty thousand pounds in your LISA. Yeah. The reality is if you want to take it out to buy a house, that's what you've got. Is that right?

• 43:56Speaker 05

  Yeah, that's about right. And that's in the right ballpark. Yeah.

• 44:00Martin Lewis?

  If you did that, would that enable you to buy the house that you want right now with a lower mortgage rate and a mortgage deposit in a sensible house with a decent mortgage that you're going to be living in that gives you and your family long-term stability?

• 44:15Speaker 05

  Yeah, that would be a big help towards it. Yes. So that that would be a viable option, I think.

• 44:20Martin Lewis?

  And is that

• 44:20Speaker 05

  It would be difficult to lose that amount of money, but it would be something I could live with.

• 44:25Martin Lewis?

  Is that what you want to do ultimately? Is that, you know, what do you want to do? Let's, let's look at it on that basis.

• 44:34Speaker 05

  Uh, yeah, I, I think with, with how it's not ideal, but on the balance of everything, I think that would be the better decision. And at least we would get the house that we wanted as soon as we could.

• 44:46Martin Lewis?

  Then do it.

• 44:48Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 44:48Martin Lewis?

  Is my view. I'm saying, now I need to say, this is not official advice or anything like that. But if I was your mate, so we're going to pretend we're friends in the pub now, then I would say, close your eyes to the penalty. Think, in reality, the penalty is, I can't actually do, let's just take a pause. I want to do the maths for a second.

• 45:11Martin Lewis?

  Okay, I just gone through this. You've put in, we'll ignore interest here because interest would have been the same elsewhere. You've put in thirty two thousand pounds, right? You've got forty thousand pounds in there because of the bonuses. If you withdraw the money, you will take out thirty thousand pounds, all in round numbers. And I think it's better for you psychologically to think of I've put in thirty two and I can get thirty out. It's almost like an investment that's dropped a little bit.

• 45:44Speaker 05

  Yeah, so you're saying I should just ignore the fact that there whatever was a bonus and think of it that way.

• 45:48Martin Lewis?

  I I really think for your own peace of mind and for your ability not to be kicking yourself about this. That is a better way to think of it. Because if you had said, if if we'd gone back now to when you first started putting money in this lifetime ISA, which of course the state encouraged you to do and you have done everything you were supposed to do. You've saved into a product that's meant to be a first time product. You're buying your first time house with it. And I think you've absolutely been shafted on the back of this, which is why I say you should at least get back. In my view, you should be getting back thirty two, not thirty.

• 46:24Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 46:24Martin Lewis?

  Because you that's.

• 46:25Speaker 05

  That seems like it would be more fair.

• 46:26Martin Lewis?

  And I think in that in that case, if you had known this, you wouldn't have put your money in a lifetime ISA. You would have put your money in. Is that correct?

• 46:37Speaker 05

  Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I wouldn't have wanted to lose out on my own money.

• 46:41Martin Lewis?

  So then you would have put it in a normal savings account or ISA and you would have thirty two grand.

• 46:48Martin Lewis?

  Therefore, even with hindsight, if you had known this, the best position you would have been in was thirty two grand ish right now. And you've got thirty grand. So you should see that as the cost. Now.

• 47:00Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 47:01Martin Lewis?

  If I said to you,

• 47:04Martin Lewis?

  you have to pay me, you don't, obviously. You've got money. You have to pay me two grand for permission to allow you to buy the house that you want to buy right now with all the money you've got in and all the savings you've got in. Would you pay me two grand to do it? Or you're not allowed to do it by law?

• 47:22Speaker 05

  Yeah, I think I would do that.

• 47:24Martin Lewis?

  So then that's what you're doing.

• 47:27Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 47:27Martin Lewis?

  Do you see what I'm trying to do by the explanation of paying me? I don't mean it in a real sense, but I mean in the

• 47:32Speaker 05

  Yes, yeah, of course.

• 47:33Martin Lewis?

  If we look at this of what is the opportunity cost of you having put the money in the ISA? It isn't the 10 grand you're losing compared to what you've got now. It's the two grand you're losing compared to what you would have done had you not put it in an ISA and you're willing to pay that amount because this is right for you in your position right now, then don't let the about the penalty colour your, the, doing the right decision for you and your family. The, the other point is, remember that you have, you haven't actually found a house yet, have you?

• 48:04Speaker 05

  No, just still in the, in the house searching, looking phase.

• 48:07Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 48:08Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 48:09Martin Lewis?

  Set your budget, buy the appropriate, look, obviously you always look for a house that's within the budget. I mean, biggest rule, by the way, when you're looking for a house in your, especially as a first time buyer, work out what the maximum you're willing to pay is. Please do not go and see any houses that are more than that. Just don't do it to yourself.

• 48:26Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 48:27Martin Lewis?

  Right. You know what I mean?

• 48:28Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 48:28Martin Lewis?

  This is my limit.

• 48:29Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 48:29Martin Lewis?

  And I'm not going to go somewhere and then go, I really want that one. And it was 12 and more and I was just, I was just being a tourist, but that's the, don't do it. Cause there's no such thing as perfection and all you will do is, it's either more debt or disappointment is the only, the only thing that comes out of that. But ultimately, there is a chance in this waiting process that something might change. Now, again, for people listening on Monday, you might know more than we, we do right now about whether there is a chance of a different government who might have a different attitude. And I could, the only thing I can tell you is I will continue to be lobbying on this issue because I think it's a manifest unfairness for first time buyers who are buying a first time property with a first time property ISA, that they have to pay a penalty to do so. And I don't

• 49:10Martin Lewis?

  think that penalty should be there. But I think for your life and what I can hear in your voice, you should just get on and do what's right for you and not let the fact you'd have to pay the penalty stop you.

• 49:21Speaker 05

  Okay, that's perfect. Thank you so much for that advice, Martin.

• 49:24Martin Lewis?

  Thank you.

• 49:24Speaker 05

  And just before I go.

• 49:26Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 49:27Speaker 05

  Can I just thank you for the campaigning you've been doing on Plan Two as well? We really appreciate how you've been speaking out against that as well, as someone who's affected by it. So thank you.

• 49:37Martin Lewis?

  You can very much. And while I can't fix Plan Two and I can't fix the LISA penalty, something that I think you will understand is probably more important. We can make sure that once the badges are ready, which we'll be discussing soon, you get a badge. I mean.

• 49:51Speaker 05

  Oh, excellent. Very excited. Thank you very much.

• 49:53Martin Lewis?

  Thank you so much for recording. Nice to chat to you.

• 49:57Martin Lewis?

  Right, so number five, I presume the following format, and this is the, I now call it the askance question. It can be a funny question, it can be a comedy question, it can be a question about life in general, or my life in general, within reason, that we're happy to take. So if you've got any of these, [email protected]. Matt, do you have one?

• 50:17Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 50:18Martin Lewis?

  Having built it up.

• 50:19Speaker 06

  Yes, I'd like to know.

• 50:20Martin Lewis?

  I say it would be a bit funny if we didn't have one, but we just cut that bit out, so it wouldn't be funny, but go on.

• 50:25Speaker 06

  So, GDPR Rosie, Google Docs Rosie, she has put funny-ish on this one.

• 50:30Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so Rosie's judging, I think that's askance then, it's askance not funny.

• 50:35Speaker 06

  Okay, so this one's from Melanie.

• 50:37Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 50:38Speaker 06

  She has started with, Dear Martin, comma, no Matt, comma, Just Martin.

• 50:43Martin Lewis?

  I think that's your punishment for being away. I actually said last week that it was my last chance to say, just do it to Dear Martin.

• 50:49Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 50:50Martin Lewis?

  And I think Melanie has delivered on that. Thank you, Melanie.

• 50:52Speaker 06

  So Melanie says, Dear Just Martin.

• 50:54Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 50:54Speaker 06

  She says, as a colossus who strides the treacherous chasm between consumer rights, personal finance, those political heathens who govern us and scrabble, whose daily stride count can be considered the eighth wonder of the world.

• 51:07Martin Lewis?

  I am really liking Melanie. I just want to say, Melanie, how you doing?

• 51:13Speaker 06

  What is your preferred footwear for such a mighty achievement? Sloppy trainer or sensible brogue?

• 51:21Martin Lewis?

  Well, it's interesting you asked me that this week, because I had comments on something relatively similar on social media yesterday. I do, I regularly present Good Morning Britain on ITV, which is obviously very early in the morning, and I only, for that reason, because I have to get up at sort of four o'clock-ish. I don't do it very often, because it doesn't fit in with the rest of my work life. But I did it yesterday, and I was wearing, and I was very proud of myself, I should say, I was wearing a blue suit and a white shirt. But I also had blue glasses, a blue belt and blue shoes, all dark blue. So I was feeling quite, you know, as a man in his 50s to have colour coordinated, and let's be honest, Matt, I think I say,

• 52:05Martin Lewis?

  as a straight man in his 50s to have managed to colour coordinate all that myself, I I thought was an achievement. But then I realised, because I do do enormous amounts of steps and I was walking afterwards, that I can't walk in shoes. I literally can't do it. My feet aren't adapted to it. All my shoes have arch support in them. So I had to carry a pair of trainers with me. And then I did a post saying that I changed that. I'd just walked to the office and I trained out of the trainers. Lots of people saying, why do you have to wear shoes when you're on telly? And well, you sort of, there is sort of a uniform for doing that type of telly because it's within a news environment. And when, because I do standing up in front of the graphics bits when I'm there and they can see my feet. So when you're going into, that was just an aside, but going into Melanie's question. The answer is, I tend to wear special trainers, I won't do the brand, that are designed for walking.

• 52:50Martin Lewis?

  And sometimes I put arch supports in them. And the most important tip I got when talking to a foot specialist about this, when I had plantar fasciitis, which I had from run-

• 52:59Speaker 06

  I've heard of that.

• 53:00Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, it's not fun.

• 53:01Speaker 06

  No.

• 53:01Martin Lewis?

  From from running and walking. And and I obey this is have different shoes. So when I, although I say I have these specialist shoes, I try not to wear them constantly. So I try to change pairs every couple of days. So I'm not always using the same. And I have about two or three I rotate through. And I was told that apparently that helps your feet not get used to them and it and it not work in quite the same way. And that sort of difference and challenging means your feet and the muscle strength is still adapting as you're going by wearing different shoes. So I have walking shoes with arch support, but I rotate what I wear so that there is foot variance. I'm just hoping that with, that was, I don't think it was from Melanie, but you always, when you're in the public eye.

• 53:46Martin Lewis?

  I don't know if I can say this. You you get requests for pictures of your feet.

• 53:51Speaker 06

  Oh.

• 53:52Martin Lewis?

  Do you know about this?

• 53:53Speaker 06

  I've heard of it.

• 53:54Martin Lewis?

  You do. I mean, I have to say, my wife gets more than I do.

• 53:57Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 53:58Martin Lewis?

  Right. And and she doesn't send them, just in case you're listening, and nor do I. I mean, I mean, sometimes you get requests for pictures. Can I have pictures of your shoes or your feet in shoes? But you do get requests for people to send pictures of your feet. Clearly, it wasn't what Melanie was going on about, but I hope I just haven't haven't. Yeah.

• 54:15Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 54:15Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 54:16Speaker 06

  Yeah. Just been informed. There's a website called Rates My Feet.

• 54:20Martin Lewis?

  Oh, dear. I'd just like to say, my feet are about a two out of 10 at best. Nobody wants to see them. I hope that puts everybody off.

• 54:26Speaker 06

  Yeah, if you do that much walking, your nails won't be there.

• 54:28Martin Lewis?

  It's not happening. No, really, you really don't want to know.

• 54:31Speaker 06

  Enough talk now. I'm done.

• 54:34Martin Lewis?

  But, Matt, we cannot go without perhaps the most important news in Britain for the whole of 2026, I think. I do not know anything else more important that has happened in the country. What is happening with the ESQ badges, Matt?

• 54:53Speaker 06

  Right. So it's very.

• 54:56Martin Lewis?

  I might have to have a sip of water. Hold on.

• 54:57Speaker 06

  Okay, it's very, very exciting.

• 55:00Martin Lewis?

  Rosie's gone red. She's flushed. Right, I'm sitting here. My knees are bouncing. I'm on tenterhooks. Gone. You've been away.

• 55:09Speaker 06

  I've been away. The badges have arrived. And they are magnificent.

• 55:16Martin Lewis?

  Oh, my word. You have. Do you have a badge in your possession?

• 55:19Speaker 06

  I have one with me.

• 55:21Martin Lewis?

  Yes.

• 55:21Speaker 06

  It's in my hand.

• 55:22Martin Lewis?

  Okay. How big are they?

• 55:24Speaker 06

  I'd say bigger than what I thought they'd be.

• 55:29Martin Lewis?

  Okay, they're not huge. I mean, they're sort of like.

• 55:30Speaker 06

  They're not huge. They're not the big birthday. They're not the big birthday. Yeah, they're like a badge that you put, but bigger than I thought they'd be.

• 55:38Martin Lewis?

  Now, we I just want to say, I'm making another executive decision, even though it may be out of my power because it's on the production side, not on the presenting side.

• 55:46Speaker 06

  Right.

• 55:47Martin Lewis?

  But I don't think we should ever put a picture of the badges anyway.

• 55:51Speaker 06

  No, I agree. I agree. Because the only way you should see it is if you come on this podcast.

• 55:55Martin Lewis?

  But I think we are allowed a description of it. Now, just as a note to everyone, everyone would be very interested in this. Next week, for other work, Rosie is going to Manchester, which is where Matt is, and I'm in London. And you're going to go, aren't you, Rosie? She's gonna go and see Matt, and you're gonna bring me some badges. Yeah, so I'm gonna get to see the badges. But Matt, I think we're allowed to describe the badges. Can you tell us how the badges look?

• 56:20Speaker 06

  Okay, so the brief I had was that they had to look as though I designed them, so they couldn't be too professional.

• 56:28Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 56:29Speaker 06

  So I got one of our digital people to cut your face out from one of your videos that we put on social media.

• 56:36Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 56:36Speaker 06

  So you've got headphones on.

• 56:37Martin Lewis?

  Nice.

• 56:38Speaker 06

  It's your face blown up. And it says, across the top, I'm Anne... dot, dot, dot. And then underneath it says ESQ. And there is a little Easter egg, which I'm not gonna say what it is, but if you look at the last dot, then there's a little Easter egg in there.

• 56:53Martin Lewis?

  Is it you, Matt?

• 56:54Speaker 06

  I could not confirm, and I could not deny it.

• 56:58Martin Lewis?

  I would be willing to put money on the fact that you've put yourself in there.

• 57:02Speaker 06

  So I thought, you know, I'm a part of this podcast too. I need something. So I snuck my face in, and I don't think anyone noticed until it had gone to print.

• 57:11Martin Lewis?

  So there is, so basically, it's a picture, it's a big me.

• 57:14Speaker 06

  It's big you.

• 57:14Martin Lewis?

  It's the words ESQ.

• 57:16Speaker 06

  Yep.

• 57:16Martin Lewis?

  And there's a tiny little Matt in a dot.

• 57:19Speaker 06

  A tiny Matt. I mean, if you didn't know, you probably wouldn't notice. And you can't make out any of my features.

• 57:24Martin Lewis?

  I mean, how, and we're not gonna show you, listeners, you don't get to see it. If you wanna see it, you gotta put a question in, be selected, and then be willing to agree to either give us a voice note or to come on the programme and ask a question. If you want a badge, that's how you get one.

• 57:41Speaker 06

  And it is very exciting to be able to say that we are now posting them out. So, you know, if you've come on before, you'll be getting one.

• 57:48Martin Lewis?

  And by the way, for those people who have come on before and you get a badge, feel free to send us a review of what you think of the badge.

• 57:55Speaker 06

  Yes, please.

• 57:56Martin Lewis?

  We're happy to read that out, to continue to tease all the people who haven't got a badge about what the badges are like.

• 58:03Speaker 06

  I would like someone to come on and on the podcast themselves and tell us how good the badge looks.

• 58:09Martin Lewis?

  Did they then get another badge? This is getting very...

• 58:10Speaker 06

  It's very technical.

• 58:12Martin Lewis?

  I think they're going to have to get another badge, but I feel that's, I'm not almost sure that deserves another badge.

• 58:16Speaker 06

  Uh, maybe not. We'll see. Let's see how we feel.

• 58:20Martin Lewis?

  What does Rosie think? Did they get another badge? Rosie's saying no.

• 58:22Speaker 06

  No.

• 58:22Martin Lewis?

  She's cruel.

• 58:23Speaker 06

  She is.

• 58:23Martin Lewis?

  She is quite cruel. She is quite cruel. And then again, GDPR.

• 58:27Speaker 06

  GDPR, she's got to keep us on the straight and narrow.

• 58:31Martin Lewis?

  She's laughing now. Let's end the pod there. Thanks, everyone.

• 58:36Martin Lewis?

  And that's it for this week's Question Time. Don't forget to subscribe so you know when we release a new episode. We put out a new Question Time each Monday alongside the Big Topic Podcast with Adrian on Thursdays. Aren't you lucky? Two doses of money-saving tips and tricks a week. Now do make sure you send in your questions. You can email [email protected] and just address it to Dear Martin.

• 59:01Speaker 06

  Dear Matt.

• 59:01Martin Lewis?

  Oh, it's nice to have you back, buddy. And don't forget, if you do come on the show, we'll send you an exclusive Martin Lewis Question Time badge. Who wouldn't want that? We don't need an answer to that question.

• 59:27Speaker 02

  Martin Lewis is the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com. But of course, other consumer and price comparison websites are available. You can get in touch with Martin's podcast production team by emailing [email protected]. The offers and rates mentioned in the podcast are correct at the time of recording. However, if you are listening on demand, it's worth double checking as details can date. Remember to subscribe on BBC Sounds and leave us a review however you listen.

• 1:00:02Speaker 01

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• 1:00:18Speaker 02

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