Thread: LSAP (Long Service Advance of Pay)

JSP 752 Chap 2 Sec 4 Para 02.0447 states;

"The maximum rate of LSAP is set at £8500 and, when set, was considered to be sufficient assistance towards a house deposit based on the average house price at that time. It is recognised that this sum, for most, will now be insufficient to meet this need, but FUNDING CONSTRAINTS have precluded its uplift."

Recent Info;

The average house prices in UK (Dec 07) are as follows ( as reported by the BBC news website)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/h...tml/houses.stm

Average Cost: £230,474
Detached: £353,096
Semi-detached: £206,054
Terraced: £183,410
Flat: £206,048

My point, when will TSAS (Tri Service Accomodation Section) update the rate (or whoever decides on the limit of LSAP) If you required a 5% deposit for the cost of an average house (£230,474) this would cost you £11,523 at present the LSAP is set to £8500. We all know the standard answer to any budget question is "No money in the pot" but the LSAP was introduced as an excellent retention tool, it just needs to keep up with the times in order to be effective.

When can we expect a long overdue increase in this entitlement?

Can any fellow arssers shed light on this topic?

Hi,

Good question, and good sums.

Unfortunatley, the crown expects you to save a bit of cash yourself. This may not always be easy I know but it can be done. The money to be lent/advanced to you is apparently from the public purse, I imagine therfore that the public would like a little reassurance of your finacial commitment to the whole scheme.

Still, £8k is better than a kick in the nuts, but more would be nice :D :D

Originally Posted by heard_it_all_before

Hi,

Good question, and good sums.

Unfortunatley, the crown expects you to save a bit of cash yourself. This may not always be easy I know but it can be done. The money to be lent/advanced to you is apparently from the public purse, I imagine therfore that the public would like a little reassurance of your finacial commitment to the whole scheme.

Still, £8k is better than a kick in the nuts, but more would be nice :D :D

Concour, whilst it should be more, it is better that we have it to use, the easy way out for them would be to bin it interally, they would save money as well as they could lay off the CS who admin it.

Coulndn't be bothered with some pay bod clamoring all over my personal affairs, just got a credit card with 10k on it and fixed no interest for 9 months, then shifted it to another card. Saw too many guys get hassle with letters from solicitors etc for what is a paltry amount.

LSAP isn't worth the trouble. We had a mortgage fixed for 2 years, when the fixed term was 3 - 4 months from finishing we looked around for a decent remortgage as ours was due to shoot up by nearly £500. We found one quickly and put the wheels in motion only to be thwarted by the twats in the LSAP section at JPAC. It took MONTHS for them to sort out a Deed of Postponment (boring legal letter saying that the MOD are happy with the remortgage apparently) it took that long that our re mortgage was not sorted in time before the fixed rate finished and so we ended up paying the extra £500 for 2 months and when we enquired as to whether there was any chance of getting the overpayment back off the JPAC seeing as it was their fault we had to pay cos they took so flippin long to write us a letter we were told to eff off!

Originally Posted by Pigsbum

LSAP isn't worth the trouble. We had a mortgage fixed for 2 years, when the fixed term was 3 - 4 months from finishing we looked around for a decent remortgage as ours was due to shoot up by nearly £500. We found one quickly and put the wheels in motion only to be thwarted by the **** in the LSAP section at JPAC. It took MONTHS for them to sort out a Deed of Postponment (boring legal letter saying that the MOD are happy with the remortgage apparently) it took that long that our re mortgage was not sorted in time before the fixed rate finished and so we ended up paying the extra £500 for 2 months and when we enquired as to whether there was any chance of getting the overpayment back off the JPAC seeing as it was their fault we had to pay cos they took so flippin long to write us a letter we were told to eff off!

I used LSAP and all my admin, payment etc was sorted in 6 weeks, no problem. Infact they couldnt have been more helpfull

Originally Posted by drain_sniffer

Originally Posted by Pigsbum

LSAP isn't worth the trouble. We had a mortgage fixed for 2 years, when the fixed term was 3 - 4 months from finishing we looked around for a decent remortgage as ours was due to shoot up by nearly £500. We found one quickly and put the wheels in motion only to be thwarted by the **** in the LSAP section at JPAC. It took MONTHS for them to sort out a Deed of Postponment (boring legal letter saying that the MOD are happy with the remortgage apparently) it took that long that our re mortgage was not sorted in time before the fixed rate finished and so we ended up paying the extra £500 for 2 months and when we enquired as to whether there was any chance of getting the overpayment back off the JPAC seeing as it was their fault we had to pay cos they took so flippin long to write us a letter we were told to eff off!

I used LSAP and all my admin, payment etc was sorted in 6 weeks, no problem. Infact they couldnt have been more helpfull

Same here, it was easy peasy.

Originally Posted by nottyash

Originally Posted by drain_sniffer

Originally Posted by Pigsbum

LSAP isn't worth the trouble. We had a mortgage fixed for 2 years, when the fixed term was 3 - 4 months from finishing we looked around for a decent remortgage as ours was due to shoot up by nearly £500. We found one quickly and put the wheels in motion only to be thwarted by the **** in the LSAP section at JPAC. It took MONTHS for them to sort out a Deed of Postponment (boring legal letter saying that the MOD are happy with the remortgage apparently) it took that long that our re mortgage was not sorted in time before the fixed rate finished and so we ended up paying the extra £500 for 2 months and when we enquired as to whether there was any chance of getting the overpayment back off the JPAC seeing as it was their fault we had to pay cos they took so flippin long to write us a letter we were told to eff off!

I used LSAP and all my admin, payment etc was sorted in 6 weeks, no problem. Infact they couldnt have been more helpfull

Same here, it was easy peasy.

If you need the money quickly they can turn it around in less than a week.

One point you should all be aware of, is that you will have to pay tax on the LSAP, this will be taking direct from souce by lowering your tax code(Mine is 487L). This equate to approx £77.00 a year extra in tax for the duration of the loan.

Originally Posted by Villain

Originally Posted by nottyash

Originally Posted by drain_sniffer

Originally Posted by Pigsbum

LSAP isn't worth the trouble. We had a mortgage fixed for 2 years, when the fixed term was 3 - 4 months from finishing we looked around for a decent remortgage as ours was due to shoot up by nearly £500. We found one quickly and put the wheels in motion only to be thwarted by the **** in the LSAP section at JPAC. It took MONTHS for them to sort out a Deed of Postponment (boring legal letter saying that the MOD are happy with the remortgage apparently) it took that long that our re mortgage was not sorted in time before the fixed rate finished and so we ended up paying the extra £500 for 2 months and when we enquired as to whether there was any chance of getting the overpayment back off the JPAC seeing as it was their fault we had to pay cos they took so flippin long to write us a letter we were told to eff off!

I used LSAP and all my admin, payment etc was sorted in 6 weeks, no problem. Infact they couldnt have been more helpfull

Same here, it was easy peasy.

If you need the money quickly they can turn it around in less than a week.

One point you should all be aware of, is that you will have to pay tax on the LSAP, this will be taking direct from souce by lowering your tax code(Mine is 487L). This equate to approx £77.00 a year extra in tax for the duration of the loan.

Likewise, had no problems, my brief was very up to speed with it also I had savings to bring it up to the magic 10% deposit. Managed to get a capped rate mortgage for the life of the mortgage. Which at he time was a risk, but has really payed off for me now. Would not do what one person said & to put that on a credit card for the very reason s he has now experienced. One days pay a month is hardly a hardship in paying back that amount & deducted from source makes it even easier. Another thing to bear in mind, should you find yourself having to let your property out. You need to contact the LSAP people to inform them that you intend to do it, they then charge a little interest onto the LSAP.

If you can afford no to use it, dont bother with it. I didnt because the terms and conditions are so restrictive.

The tax issue comes into force if you borrow £5000 or over as that is the figure that the Inland Revenue have set as the threshold for "Benefits in Kind". LSPA is dead handy if you are buying shortly before you get out, as the repayments are still spread over 12 or 15 years (cant remember exactly now) but the balance comes out of your lump sum. I borrowed £4950 to avoid tax liability

If you borrow money and its not paid back before you leave then be very wary of counting your final months salary/ies as they sometimes take the remainder from them instead of recovering the amount from your garatuity. They royally did this to me this christmas and I never had pay for two months (and they still havent paid my gratuity) even though the LSAP contract stated the monies would be recouped from gratuity. another gen from the house of JPA in association with LSAP.

:( I got out pre JPA thank goodness

I've only just heard of LSAP. Can I take advantage of LSAP if I already own a house, ie, for home improvements? I want to do my bathroom up and the cash would be handy if its interest free - would save me 7.1% at the bank!!

Originally Posted by Rockstar

I've only just heard of LSAP. Can I take advantage of LSAP if I already own a house, ie, for home improvements? I want to do my bathroom up and the cash would be handy if its interest free - would save me 7.1% at the bank!!

Sorry Rockstar, it's only for house purchase, even then it's for your first house. If you already have one, no dice I am afraid.

Notty.