Strange house buying/selling situation - advice please

BitterAndTwisted

I can't see why this deal is attractive to your in-laws. The whole thing is fishy. The landlord hasn't got a secure tenant he's trying to offload, is he? Why would a landlord sell up and buy another less expensive property in order to lower the rent for their tenant? Out of the goodness of his heart? None of this makes any sense

dominoman

It's a terrible deal.

It is not worth trying to avoid the stamp duty as it is so little on this transaction, but in any case this proposal doesn't avoid stamp.

Your solicitor will tell you quite clearly that this is what HMRC refer to as a linked transaction. You are still purchasing the house as before and selling yours. The fact that some money is netted off beforehand will not mean you don't pay stamp duty.

This sounds dodgy and fishy. The fact the vendors are suggesting this means I would start looking for somewhere else.

EMIsc

Hi, the elderly lady has seen the bungalow and like it. It sounds to me that she owned the house previously but needed to release the capital, he bought it from her for way below market value and lease it back to her on a 99 year lease. I think that she is okay with this move and wants somewhere smaller but it still doesn't feel quite right.

Thanks for your views everyone, I agree that it's really not a great deal!