Stamp duty exempt up to £150,000?

Dinah93

Hi

We're considering buying a house, but there remains a small gulf between our offer and the vendors selling price. And that gulf is in the £120-£130,000 range. We're not willing to cross the stamp duty threashold and they're not willing to come under £127,000. In effect, stalemate.

However I went to see a morgage advisor today and he said that a lot of the properties in the Darlington area are stamp duty exempt up to £150,000 rather than the usual £125,000 as it is considered a deprived area. Does anyone have any idea where I can find out about if this is the case, and if this covers the property we are looking to buy?

Thanks x

DVardysShadow

This takes your top offer to £126,250. Is this going to help you?

Cannon_Fodder

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/reliefs-exemptions/disadvantaged-areas.htm#3

alared

The current stamp duty limit is £175k `til the end of the year at least,could well be extended.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/BeginnersGuideToTax/DG_10010529

poppysarah

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/disadvantaged.htm


Don't know how it was affected in the SD changes but that's a live page.
There is somewhere a postcode checker.

The chancellor is likely to impose some "economy savings" or cuts as they'd be if the tories were making them... so watch the strange budget-but-its-only-a-prebudget budget thing.

Dinah93

Thanks so much. Unfortuantely its not in one of the areas that qualify. I don't think we'd be able to complete in time to get it through before stamp duty comes back in at £125,000 given the solicitors and everything stop working on about the 18th December.

princessamy86

You could ask your vendor if they would contribute towards stamp duty?

bryanb

princessamy86 wrote: »

You could ask your vendor if they would contribute towards stamp duty?

How would that differ from reducing the price?

princessamy86

It wouldn't, but in the interests of reaching a deal then maybe it would help if the vendors paid perhaps half of the stamp duty? If they're adamant that £127,000 is the bottom line, it might be feasible. It would be £1,270 (I hope, my maths is awful!), so not a vast amount of money to reach agreement on?

GDB2222

Are there any things in the house that might normally be included in the sale price that are not actually fixed down? Carpets that are not glued down? Vinyl, perhaps? Curtains? Appliances? Shed too, as well as plants, believe it or not.

Mutton_Geoff

With respect if the seller says their bottom line is £127k when they know the duty will kick in at £125k costing you not £2k more (at £127k) but £3,270 (£2k plus the duty) more, then they either aren't serious about selling or you're not negotiating hard enough.

I wouldn't lose a sale for the sake of £2k in this market and the sellers argument will affect any prospective purchaser. They may just lose out, so I'd be firm about your intention to walk and watch the price come down to £124,995.

Even if the stamp duty threshold stays at £175k, you've saved yourself £2k.

What sort of survey did you get? A decent survey can usually pick up at least £2k's worth of work to be done.