Budget 2010: Stamp duty threshold raised to £250,000 for first time buyers

Former_MSE_Rose

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

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Budget 2010: Stamp duty threshold raised to £250,000 for first time buyers

Cannon_Fodder

They need to define FTB clearly.

Whether 1 of a couple being FTB, the other not, etc will qualify.

And the dates spelt out.

princessamy86

I'm very confused by this. How on earth are they going to police it? And as cannon fodder points out, what is the definition of a FTB?

purcel

Brilliant news, I am so glad! More money left for decorating

lspindlove

Hi to all,

My wife and I are FTB and we've had a £155k offer accepted on a house, solicitors checks are in place and mortgage offered. We haven't got a completion date yet, and haven't signed any contracts (other than to tell the solicitor to proceed with said checks).

Does this mean that we are exempt from Stamp Duty?

Lewis

Senior_Paper_Monitor

My understanding at this stage is that it is solely on sale value (the reference to 'ftb' is political dressing).

Since it applies from midnight it would be impossible to set up any policing structure to select FTBs.

The impact of the increase above £1,000,000 also has a number of interesting implications.

Bit of a buggah if you have a £1,000,050 completion scheduled for Friday !!!

Cannon_Fodder

Wait for your solicitor to get all the criteria. Until he sits down, much information is withheld...

Domipheus

We are due to move next week, contracts concluded, with sellers paying the stamp duty as the terms. Technically, we are paying them the house price minus the stamp duty which we then pay. Will be interesting how this will pan out, as the price we offered was higher only due to the stamp duty term agreed.

sherbie28

My sister and her husband bought their house only a month ago (first time buyers) and had to pay stamp duty, is there any way they could claim back. It seems really unfair that they have just lost out.

Squish_21

I'd like them to define a a FTB.

Im sure many are wondering whether it is worth selling then moving in with family/renting, then buying a place, purely to avoid stamp duty.

fjinnes

What will this mean for me - my wife is a first time buyer, and we are meant to exchange contracts today and complete in 2 weeks time. Is midnight tonight relevant for exchanging contacts or completeing. I need to know as this could save me a couple of grand.

Cheers

Fraser