Stamp Duty Calculator and Q&A discussion 31 March 2010 at 10:12AM edited 31 March 2010 at 12:06PM in House buying, renting & selling 139 replies 110K views

Sandyness

I am thinking of buying the freehold with the 2 other people in my house. We are paying 5k each for this - but i am told we need to pay stamp duty. My flat is worth £250k - surely i don't pay duty on the full value all over again? Can anyone help?

Richard_Webster

Who did you buy the flat from in the first place?

Normally if Developer Ltd granted leases some years ago to A,B & C then if X, Y & Z now own the flat leases and want to buy the freehold from Developer Ltd, or its successor as Landlord, RipOffFreeholder Ltd, then this is a separate transaction and SDLT would only be assessed on £15K which is well under the £125K threshold.

If ABC are buying freehold from Developer Ltd then there is an argument that they are linked transactions and you have to take the original purchase prices and add on the £15K.

However I do think even this is somewhat artificial, particularly since normally you would only expect this to be the case where ABC were connected persons, e.g. close family.

Perhaps the safest thing to do is to put the facts to HMRC and pay nothing on the basis that you don't think anything is dure because you do not think they are linked transactions. They may come back and ask for the extra but having been upfront they cannot then ask for penalties and interest etc,

auntsally40

:TWe bought our house in February this year. our brilliant solicitor found out that the property we bought was within a disadvantaged area. The purchase price was below £150,000 and therefore exempt from Stamp Duty. Disadvantaged Relief Areas transactions have been abolished from April 6th 2013, but if you bought a property before this date you and fulfill the criteria, you can claim Stamp Duty Relief. You have to put your claim into HMRC before May3rd 2014. We saved £1490!! check out HMRC website section on disadvantage areas.

Leicesteruk1989

Hi,

I'm a first time buyer with a LTV 70% purchasing a house that is valued at £140,000

I have been discussing with the person who I am purchasing the property from selling the house for £124,999 to potentially avoid stamp duty etc.

I'm looking for some advice around the implications this may have and if it's legal to do so?

I understand that on the land registry the property will be shown as sold for £124,999 therefore would I be correct in assuming that as a result this could potentially have a knock on impact the value of other properties on the street and eventually my re-sale value in the future?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

marlot

mylesneal wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a first time buyer with a LTV 70% purchasing a house that is valued at £140,000...

Thanks in advance

Normally best to start your own thread, rather than dig one up from years ago!

Nothing to stop you buying at £125k if the seller is willing to accept that. Indeed, you can also pay extra for furniture etc you choose to buy from them (but it does need to be a fair market value).

What you can't do is put it through as £125k then offer to pay the seller £10k or £15k on the side.

billshep

If you prefer the change in stamp duty in graphical form:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StampDuty_upto_%C2%A3300k.jpg
or for prices more people can afford:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StampDuty_upto_%C2%A3300k.jpg

Jones578

I am a first time buyer and would like to take advantage of the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, i.e., 5% deposit, 20% loan from government and 75% loan from mortgage lender, for purchasing a new build property.

I was hoping to extend my mortgage amount to include the stamp duty, however I was told by my mortgage broker (London & Country) that the stamp duty CANNOT be added to the mortgage if I am using the Equity Loan scheme, as the lender will only lend up to 75% of the property value.

Is it true? I have googled about it but I could not find anything related.
If it is the case, I may need to consider a small property or go for the second hand house market so that I can borrow stamp duty as part of the mortgage.
Any advice will be much appreciated.

kingstreet

You can't add such fees to a mortgage if by doing so you will exceed the maximum loan to value.

A 20% equity loan means a min 5% deposit and max 75% mortgage.

A 10% equity loan means a min 5% deposit and max 85% mortgage.

Either way, there is no scope to add stamp duty. You may be able to add a product fee, or similar but that will be about it.

Have you considered asking the builder if it will pay your SDLT for you? If so, ensure you use a lender willing to accept such builder cash incentives.

devilqb

Hi all, I own my own flat and want to help my partner buy their own property too. We do not live together. Therefore if we were to apply for the mortgage jointly but only my partner (who does not own any other property) is solely on the property deed of the new property, is the 2nd home stamp duty still applicable? Thank-you.

davidmcn

devilqb wrote: »

if we were to apply for the mortgage jointly but only my partner is solely on the property deed of the new property

This doesn't happen. Joint mortgage = joint ownership. Unless you're "helping" by something like a guarantor mortgage (in which case your involvement wouldn't be relevant for stamp duty purposes).