Delaying moving in after completion - can we do this?

kjfc100

We are doing a house swap with another couple. They are buying our house, we are buying theirs.

We are keen to complete before Christmas because we will save the stamo duty of £1,600. The paperwork is all through now, and our solicitor (his firm is acting for both parties) says we can now exchange and complete on Tuesday of next week, which is great.

However, neither of us are very keen to physically move now before Christmas for various reasons, the main one being they have a small child and neither of us have started packing yet.

We still want to complete because we save the stamp duty, but we've agreed that if legally possible, we would like to move the following week, on the 28th.

I think that as long as we insure our respective houses from the date of exchange/ completion, we should be OK to stay put for now. I trust them not to do any damage to the house as we know each others' families very well.

Does anyone know if this is legally possible?

Thanks

pie81

I am pretty sure that the stamp duty deadline is 31 Dec not Christmas. So moving on the 28th should be fine.

kjfc100

Thanks Pie. I probably didn't explain myself very well - we do actually have to complete this Tuesday because the solicitor isn't working for two weeks over Christmas. Can we still complete but not move for a week?

Isklar

I dont know if the law has changed in recent years, but during one of my house moves, about 15 years ago, we did something similar. We completed on the Friday, but didn't move in (nor did the vendors move out) until the following Thursday.
I seem to remember there was some extra paper work involved, we discussed it with our solicitor at length, and definitely, as you said, we had to sort something out with the insurance.

chappers

if you have trust between you then no reason why not legaly.

G_M

Legally, nothing says you have to move on Completion day, but there are risks which have legal implications.

By letting someone else (your friends) stay in what will have become 'your' house, you are giving them rights and theoreticall/legally you could then have difficulty getting them out.

Damage and responsibility for it is another risk.

However, since their risk is similar (you'll be in 'their' house), and since you 'trust' each other, you may well decide this arrangement suits you.

Of course, if HMRC become aware of the arrangement, they may take a dim view. Only a tax specialist could advise whether it is tax evasion, rather than tax avoidance (the former is illegal, the latter legal).

GDB2222

If they actually move before 31 Dec, I really don't see why there's any possibility of tax evasion.

No chance of finding a solicitor prepared to work when you need him?

Richard_Webster

The issue is one for solicitors - if you do it without telling your respective solicitors it probably won't matter. However a solicitor usually also acts for your mortgage lender so he will want on their behalf to make sure you get vacant possession - they can kick you out if you don;'t pay the mortgage - but they will have more difficulty kicking your sellers out!

Same the other way round with your sellers' buying your house - if there is a mortgage their solicitor will want to know they have got vacant possession.

If either solicitor knows what you intend he has a duty to the lender.

Doozergirl

G_M wrote: »

Of course, if HMRC become aware of the arrangement, they may take a dim view. Only a tax specialist could advise whether it is tax evasion, rather than tax avoidance (the former is illegal, the latter legal).

There is nothing that says you have to live in a house once you've purchased it. If completion has taken place then there is no reason for them to take a view any different to that they would take for anyone that completes before the end of the year.

If you trust each other then it's your personal arrangement to make - the fact that you will be both be in possession of one or the other property reduces the risk of people not moving out etc. We had somethig similar except that we thought there was going to be a delay in completion - we both decided to move anyway as that was the only moving date that suited us both for quite a while. As it happened we exchanged and completed on the same day but we physically moving houses as it happened.

kjfc100

Many thanks for all the replies. I think we are just going to go for it and leave it a week between completion and moving. We'll insure from the day of completion so hopefully there should be no problem.

Thanks for your opinions :beer:

Cissi

Just a thought - presumably one house is more expensive than the other? If the other family is the one who is "downsizing", what if they decide to stay put once they've received the money? Could get really, really messy... I realise that this is a very remote possibility especially since you know them, but is it worth the risk?

There was a link on here to a newspaper story about a couple who made a habit of "renting" houses that they were supposed to buy (with some excuse as to why the purchase was delayed) and never paid a penny in rent. If I recall correctly, their vendors also all thought they knew them (neighbours, I think) and were thoroughly conned every time. Different scenario, but seems equally far fetched and yet these people had planned it all, as unlikely as it seemed at the time.

On the other hand if you're the ones downsizing then I can't see a risk with receiving the money on the 22nd and staying in the more expensive house until the 28th