Buying in Scotland and stamp duties

ambioni

No- as soon as you receive confirmation that you are registered you should be ok....but you should check your credit score before you apply anyway as it may take a few weeks for your electoral roll registration to be noticed by credit checking agencies. As I said, Noddle is an easy site to do this on.

Whether or not you vote makes no difference to your score, it is being registered that matters...all part of showing that you are stable and responsible and it gives potential lenders a good way of checking that you are who you say you are and that you are resident at the address you claim to live at. Being on the roll is only one thing that affects your credit worthiness, so making sure you have no missed credit payments/defaults is also important.

AceCobra1

ambioni wrote: »

No- as soon as you receive confirmation that you are registered you should be ok....but you should check your credit score before you apply anyway as it may take a few weeks for your electoral roll registration to be noticed by credit checking agencies. As I said, Noddle is an easy site to do this on.

Whether or not you vote makes no difference to your score, it is being registered that matters...all part of showing that you are stable and responsible and it gives potential lenders a good way of checking that you are who you say you are and that you are resident at the address you claim to live at. Being on the roll is only one thing that affects your credit worthiness, so making sure you have no missed credit payments/defaults is also important.

I just went to register with Experian since that seems to be the main site everyone uses. What I don't understand is why my credit score is "only" good ? The only thing it says I can help to improve my credit score is registering on the electoral rolls - would me not being in the roll actually move my band from excellent to good? Would it impact much when my score is only good in obtaining a mortgage ?

ambioni

AceCobra1 wrote: »

I just went to register with Experian since that seems to be the main site everyone uses. What I don't understand is why my credit score is "only" good ? The only thing it says I can help to improve my credit score is registering on the electoral rolls - would me not being in the roll actually move my band from excellent to good? Would it impact much when my score is only good in obtaining a mortgage ?

It is highly likely that this is why your report is good rather than excellent. Monitor your report over the next few weeks and see if it changes to excellent now that you are on the electoral register. It is definitely worth waiting until your new registration has been reported to credit agencies because it is something lenders will also pick up on. My advice would be to wait a few weeks before trying to apply for a mortgage....the better your score, the more deals you can pick and choose from and the better interest rate you will secure. Not being on the roll is one reason why many lenders instantly knock back applicants, and this can be avoided so easily.

agrinnall

AceCobra1 wrote: »

So I have just registered, it says it is too late to vote via postal services so I needed to mark in the option vote in person - is it compulsory for me to vote now that I have marked that?

It's never compulsory for you to vote, well, not unless the law is changed. I'm rather surprised that it said anything about how to vote as you have missed the deadline (April 20th) for registering to vote in Thursday's General Election, so you couldn't vote in person even if you wanted to.

AceCobra1

Do you guys know if it is worth registering with mouseprice to check details of flats that have sold ?

googler

AceCobra1 wrote: »

Do you guys know if it is worth registering with mouseprice to check details of flats that have sold ?

No, not when you can get them for free, without registration, at Zoopla, and not when your solicitor will be able to get, through his/her local SPC, more information than mouseprice holds......

Stamp Duty doesn't apply in Scotland any more. Look up 'Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) with the googles.

EDIT

AceCobra1 wrote: »

I was just wondering with regards to the stamp duty, I was reading somewhere that the stamp duty is 1% for any flats/ properties over £150k. Lets say I bought a flat @ £160k, is that 1% of £160k = £1600 or 160 - 150 = £10k of which 1% = £100 ?

It's 2% on the XS over £145,000 - so 2% of £5k = £300

https://www.revenue.scot/land-buildings-transaction-tax/tax-calculator/lbtt-property-transactions-calculator

GaleSF63

It's a legal requirement to register but it's not a legal requirement to vote.

I have heard say that if you need your MP's help for anything they are more likely to assist if you have bothered to vote. I suspect that it will vary from MP to MP.

agrinnall

GaleSF63 wrote: »

It's a legal requirement to register but it's not a legal requirement to vote.

I have heard say that if you need your MP's help for anything they are more likely to assist if you have bothered to vote. I suspect that it will vary from MP to MP.

Are you hearing this from some bloke down the pub? Because I really don't see how your MP would have any idea whether you have voted or not.

sleepless_saver

Link below sets out the whole home buying process in time order, might be useful for OP.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/cost-timeline-for-buying-a-property-in-scotland