Stamp Duty emigrated from Ireland

fionaCastel

hello,
I am wandering if anybody can help me:
I had to emigrate from Ireland in 2011. I own a flat there.
Now I would like to buy in the UK but I am getting caught in the high stamp duty (costing me £10,800 instead of £3,000).
The flat is in negative equity so I cannot sell it without loosing over 15k
Is there any hope I can not pay this?
That flat has been a burden since loosing half of his value with the property crash
Thanks for any help/support
Fiona

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

If you can afford 3k SDLT, and finance a 260k purchase, then I would wager you can probably sell the property in ROI. And frankly you need to as that will be the only way of avoiding the extra SDLT.

AdrianC

If your choice is between clearing £15k of negative equity (pounds or euros?) or paying £7,800 extra SDLT, then it would obviously cost you less to pay the SDLT.

But if the flat is that much of a burden, this may be a good excuse to just cut your losses, and save yourself a lot of hassle including having to either complete an Irish tax return or declare your foreign income on your UK return.

tara747

If you own another property, then you have to pay the extra SD.

Thrugelmir

fionaCastel wrote: »

The flat is in negative equity so I cannot sell it without loosing over 15k

Settle the debt and move on. Realising a loss is never easy but sometimes needs must.

HappyMJ

fionaCastel wrote: »

hello,
I am wandering if anybody can help me:
I had to emigrate from Ireland in 2011. I own a flat there.
Now I would like to buy in the UK but I am getting caught in the high stamp duty (costing me £10,800 instead of £3,000).
The flat is in negative equity so I cannot sell it without loosing over 15k
Is there any hope I can not pay this?
That flat has been a burden since loosing half of his value with the property crash
Thanks for any help/support
Fiona

You've got to make a choice.

As you state you're in negative equity you also have a mortgage on this Irish property which will be costing you money each month. You won't be able to remortgage a property that is in negative equity so it's unlikely the interest rate on this mortgage is competitive. If you're renting it out rent's in Ireland are also very low and I doubt you're making a profit.

I don't like realising losses either but to save £7,800 on a £260,000 purchase it might just be easier and more profitable in the long term to let the flat go for £15,000 less than you want it to go for.

How long will it take for Irish property prices to recover? As far as I can see the value of Irish property has returned to the level it should be at and it could take many years of inflation to realise a positive return on the property. Inflation though is running at a record low of less than 1% so it could even take decades.

fionaCastel

thanks HappyMJ,
mortgage is very low and its covered by rent. Only expenses are taxes and maintenance.
Prices are going up, and I think that if I hold on to it I could break even, not make a loss.
Still, it will get older and older and require more money spent on it.
Bit of a headache to say the least!