Shared ownership, staircasing and stamp duty - advice needed please

Lilly_Tam · 24 October 2013 at 6:32PM

I am looking to staircase up to 100% from my current 40% share but I have just found out that I could potentially save on stamp duty if I do it in two stages - 80% then 100% - as SDLT would then be payable only on the last 20% share.

Is that really true? Would the cost of staircasing twice not outweigh / cancel out any savings made? If anyone has experience of this or any advice, please let me know.

My flat is in London and has just been valued at £375k.

I currently have a 40% share and the mortgage outstanding on that is £74k (with the Nationwide). The initial purchase was in October 2005 (total value of flat back then was £237,500) and I paid 1% stamp duty on the £95k paid for the 40% share.

I can also put down around £20k to £23k in deposit depending on remortgaging expenses.

The best remortgaging deal found so far is with Santander - BoE + 1.99 lifetime tracker (currently 2.49%), £495 booking fee, 1% cashback on mortgage, overpayment allowed, free valuation, help with solicitor fees, no early redemption charge.

In terms of future plans, I definitely plan to staircase up to 100% eventually as my flat is in a very good location, right next to a zone 1/2 tube and overground station, and its value is going to keep rising. So the Santander deal should also allow me to do that within a year or so with minimal cost.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Lilly