Martin Lewis urges first-time buyers to put £1 in a savings account immediately to get free 25 percent bonus

Martin Lewis was back on-air on Wednesday (March 8) for the latest edition of his BBC podcast. The self-titled show, The Martin Lewis Podcast, is released on BBC sounds each week and focuses on a different subject matter.

This week's episode was centered around ISAs with the Money Saving Expert founder answer questions from viewers, whilst also giving his best advice on a range of other topics including cheap flights and pension boosts.

During the ISA talk Martin, 50, gave some key advice to first-time buyers who are currently saving up to buy their first house. The finance guru talked about the Lifetime ISA (LISA) and explained how this can help prospective new homeowners boost their savings by 25 percent.

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Speaking on the latest Martin Lewis podcast, the finance guru explained: "Lifetime ISAs can only be opened if you are aged 18 to 39. You can put up to £4,000 per tax year into savings or investments within a LISA, and then when you use it to buy a first-time property, you get a 25 percent free bonus from the state."

Martin explained that this means that for every £4,000 you save every year, you would get £1,000 free from the government to use towards buying you first home.

But there are further rules and requirements as to who can save with a LISA, as Martin added: "You must have never owned a home before for that to work. The home that you're buying must cost under £450,000 and you cannot use the 25 percent bonus until your Lifetime ISA has been opened for a year."

Martin then advised that even if you are not planning to save for your first home right now, it's a good idea to open a LISA