Stamp Duty / First Time Buyer???

mr.moon_2

Hi

i am looking at buying a property with my fiancee, for me its not the first mortgage, as i had one 10years ago, since them i have lived with parents and lived in rented property.
For my partner it is her first morgage so she would obiously qualify as a first time buyer, We are currently looking at a joint mortgage so i am not sure if we would qualify as first time buyers????

If we are first time buyers i beleive we would not have to pay the stamp duty on the property, i do not see how this can be fair if we have to pay the stamp duty as the mortgage i had was years ago.

loubel

You will not qualify for the additional first time buyer SDLT relief as you are not a first time buyer.

If your fiance has never owned a property then she would qualify for the relief if she buys by herself only.

firstaspect

You will not be first time buyers. They can't offer deals to anyone who currently doesn't own a house but who did at some point. The idea is to get people on the ladder who cannot afford the added expense of stamp duty when they buy for the first time.

00ec25

there is no need for a poll, this is not a matter of a vote

the law is very simple, if you have EVER owned a property ANYWHERE in the WORLD you are NOT a first time buyer. YOU have previously had a mortgage therefore YOU are NOT a FTB

So if you can only afford the place you want to buy by having a joint mortgage you will have to pay stamp duty. If GF can affordthe mortgage on her salary only then she can buy it as a FTB but your name cannot go on the deeds.

pjcox2005

The incentive is effectively a way of inticing first time buyers/giving them assistance to buy a house as the Government realise that house prices are artifically inflated.

Arguably, if you brought a house 10 years ago then you had a chance to benefit on the upside of house price growth so shouldn't need assistance.

I appreciate that may not be your circumstances and a lot could make that quote above not the case but it tries to highlight why the relief doesn't apply to you.

Likewise it becomes subjective if you do it over a period of time, should someone who brought a btl 2 years ago, sold and is waiting for the next one be classed as a first time buyer as they haven't owned anything for two years?

(Finally just to cover myself, my girlfriend previously owning a house over 5 years ago will also mean we won't benefit when we come to buy).

neverdespairgirl

It's not only people who've bought before who aren't first time buyers. People who've never bought, but have sold, are also excluded. Sorry, it's your tough luck, really.

googler

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

It's not only people who've bought before who aren't first time buyers. People who've never bought, but have sold, are also excluded. Sorry, it's your tough luck, really.

To the OP - read the notes at the HMRC website. The stamp duty exemption only applies to those who have never had an interest in property in the past.

Therefore, if you bought a property in the past, or you were given a property in the past, or you inherited a property in the past - you had an interest in that property then, and you don't therefore get stamp duty relief this time round.

You can poll whether the HMRC rule is fair or unfair all you like, they won't change it.....

Edit: I'll save you the bother - from the HMRC notes, you qualify for the relief if you have - "not previously owned property or land either in the UK or anywhere else in the world - including property bought with anyone else". By your own definition above, you don't qualify as you have previously owned.