first time buyer?????????????????????????

pete5050

Morning all,

looking for the official defination of a first time buyer.

We sold our house in October of last year and now looking to re-enter the market. Both my wife and myself have had mortgages but both before we were married (the last house sold was in my name only).

Question is, having had no mortgage for nearly 6 months are we considered ftb's? Read somewhere that a ftb is someone who has'nt had a mortgage for three months. Is this true?

Any help/advise much appreciated:beer:

cossie23

Hi,

I'm in a similar situation. Havent had a mortgage for 5 years and am going to purchase a property very soon. Does this mean i have to pay stamp duty under the new rule? I cant seem to find any clarification on this.

Any help much appreciated!

phead

Defined on HMRC as :
"
an individual or individuals jointly purchase a major interest in land which is wholly residential

that individual (or all of them) intends to occupy the property as his/her or their only or main residence

an individual or individuals has or have not previously purchased such an interest or its equivalent anywhere in the world
"
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/sdlt.htm

As they also include inherited properties, they must be planning on using the land registry documents, instead of past SDLT returns, so unless your previous property was a shack in Zimbabwe, they will find out.

mattdragon2

You are a first time buyer to the banks if you haven't had a mortgage for roughly 6 months, depends on the bank.So you can get access to the ftb mortgage rates.

You are not a first time buyer if you wish to qualify for no stamp duty.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/sdlt.htm

Also, if you are a couple buying, 1 is a ftb, the other is not, then you don't qualify either.

tristan727

I'm sure there's going to be loads of people hoping various technicalities will make them a first-time buyer...but my question is even simpler, and I've got only a couple of days to figure it out as my wife is in final stage of buying a house & it is driving me mad as I could change the name of the property to me, presuming the builders approve...the bbc this morning actually mentioned the specific problem (are you a 1st time buyer if only your wife has a bought a property) - but their answer was only that Treasury officials were scrambling...so basically & incredibly no-one knows the answer to this simple question...

Am I a first-time buyer if have never bought a property anywhere, have never had a mortgage, & my name appears on no title deeds ever, yet my wife (swap for husband where suits) has bought one (whilst married)?

The nearest they address is it, is point 4. of the technical notes, found in the link above - but as I would buy the house on my own, it does not answer it. I've asked my wife's solicitor but he's clueless also about the situation - meanwhile all parties want to complete this week & aren't amused by my intervention particularily!

Emy1501

tristan727 wrote: »

I'm sure there's going to be loads of people hoping various technicalities will make them a first-time buyer...but my question is even simpler, and I've got only a couple of days to figure it out as my wife is in final stage of buying a house & it is driving me mad as I could change the name of the property to me, presuming the builders approve...the bbc this morning actually mentioned the specific problem (are you a 1st time buyer if only your wife has a bought a property) - but their answer was only that Treasury officials were scrambling...so basically & incredibly no-one knows the answer to this simple question...

Am I a first-time buyer if have never bought a property anywhere, have never had a mortgage, & my name appears on no title deeds ever, yet my wife (swap for husband where suits) has bought one (whilst married)?

If you and your wife are going on the deeds then you are not a first buyer according to the Treasury as your wife has already owned. if you are buying property only in your name then you will be I assume as long as you get get the mortgage based on your earnings alone.

mattdragon2

Yes you would be a first time buyer because you don't own the house, your wife does. Therefore you never bought a property, had a mortgage etc.

But if you bought a house with your wife then you won't be classed as a first time buyer to qualify for no stamp duty on properties under 250k.

tristan727

thanks people - however it's only educated guesswork (I would guess!) - as there is still no clear definition or guarantee of it....which you kind of need before 'avoiding' £2500 in stamp duty. Unless you have an official source for this?

Emy1501

tristan727 wrote: »

thanks people - however it's only educated guesswork (I would guess!) - as there is still no clear definition or guarantee of it....which you kind of need before 'avoiding' £2500 in stamp duty. Unless you have an official source for this?

No its offical and is on the relevant government websites etc. There are various threads on the forum about it.

The only way you can avoid this is by making sure that anyone going onto the deed has never owned before and that includes shared ownership and ownership anywhere in the world.

I'm sure a solicitor will confirm this for you