Prospective stamp duty change: Advice

Cooke25

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone could shed some light on my situation, with a focus on the stamp duty changes.

I own a house in Scotland that is rented, however, it has never been my residence and is being sold soon. I live in the UK with my parents and am buying a property in UK as my first new residential property.

The forecasted rules state that I would pay the 3% extra Stamp Duty on the new UK house, then have 18 months to receive a refund if you 'sell and change your residence'.
However, does anyone know if i would qualify for the refund? As it doesn't seem that selling my Scotland house would count as 'selling and change my residential address' as I have never resided there.

Thanks in advance

davidmcn

It might make things clearer if you told us where in the UK you're buying (at the time of writing, Scotland is part of the UK!).

But in any event, the concession (insofar as the rules have been clarified at either Westminster or Holyrood) applies to you selling your main residence and buying a new one - which doesn't appear to be what you're doing. So best to complete your sale first.

googler

You pay Stamp Duty when you buy in E&W, Land & Buildings Transaction Tax when you buy in Scotland.

Whilst the current plan is for similar changes on 1 April, you may find some differences depending on where you are buying.

AnotherJoe

Cooke25 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone could shed some light on my situation, with a focus on the stamp duty changes.

I own a house in Scotland that is rented, however, it has never been my residence and is being sold soon. I live in the UK with my parents and am buying a property in UK as my first new residential property.

The forecasted rules state that I would pay the 3% extra Stamp Duty on the new UK house, then have 18 months to receive a refund if you 'sell and change your residence'.
However, does anyone know if i would qualify for the refund? As it doesn't seem that selling my Scotland house would count as 'selling and change my residential address' as I have never resided there.

Thanks in advance

Well you would be changing your residential address so it might well apply. also it would seem to follow the intent of the law which is to reduce second owned homes otherwise people in the same situation would have no incentive to sell their single BTLs. However I think I'd focus on selling the rental first just to be sure and to avoid a lot of hassle.