Definition of a first time buyer

pdwb

Hello,

I have a question, I am trying to find out the definition of a first time buyer, the reason for this is I once owned a house as a single man and sold this house back in 2002 so 10 years ago now, my life is now with a partner, we are not married yet and a small child, we are thinking of getting a place together as we have been a couple for 3 years now, i have always been happy to rent and we have currently been renting the current house for over 3 years and about to sign another 12 month contract so life is good,

we have thought that now is the time to think about our own house and to start saving, the kind of asking price for the house we will be looking at will be around £250K, this is quite high for a first house and as lenders and builders give incentives to first time buyers I was hoping that we could qualify as such, I searched and found this as a definition for a first time buyer

"The mortgage industry’s definition of first-time buyer is a pretty loose one. The Council of Mortgage Lenders classes a first-time buyer simply as someone buying a property who doesn’t already own one. Clearly this is a pretty wide interpretation, since it includes people who previously owned a place, sold to rent for a while (perhaps because of divorce) and are now re-entering the mortgage market.
Buying your first house is a big step, but many first-time buyers make these classic mistakes
In other words anyone getting a mortgage who isn’t a home mover, homeowner, buy-to-let investor or simply remortgaging is classed as a first-time buyer"

is this correct as it would mean we are covered, my first house was sold over 10 years ago, i have no interest in it what so ever and was as a single man, I have also found this as a definition for first time buyers seeking the stamp duty break

"At the other end of the spectrum the Government’s definition of a first-time buyer is very tight with regard to the Stamp Duty break.
To qualify for the tax-free perk you must have never owned a property… ever.
This includes anywhere in the world, shared ownership properties with housing associations, properties jointly owned with someone else at some point in your past and even caravans.
It also needs to be a property you are buying as your own main residence, not a buy-to-let or second home so, parents, don’t get any ideas about buying a holiday home in your child’s name just to escape the tax!"

now I am not looking to or hoping to qualify for the stamp duty break so this means I am not affected by the Governments definition as I won’t be breaking any laws but the mortgage industry’s definition does seem to include me and therefore I would qualify for first time buyer based mortgages, any first time buyer builders incentives and any of the 75% mortgages set out for first time buyers,

Am I correct in my findings and would I now qualify for first time buyer offers as long as I don’t try and claim the stamp duty break,


Thanks

Thrugelmir

Have you seen an attractive incentive? Most incentives are marketing ploys and don't actually something for nothing.

holly_hobby

Re stamp duty land tax - if you have ever held an interest in a property (by purchase, inheritance or gift) you are not a first time buyer, so do not qualify for the current 250k FTB SDLTR available until March 2012 .

Re mortgage offers - the days of specific FTB deals tend to be gone. And different lenders do have differing specifications as to what they interpret as a FTB. If your query is in relation to this, you are best to divulge to the lender your previous status and see if they are happy to process you as a FTB.

Hope this helps

Holly