First Time Buyer for a ‘second’ home

SamuraiGiraffe

My wife and I are in a very fortunate situation where we are given accommodation through our jobs. We have thought about buying in Surrey where we live, but we are quite keen on buying in Wales, closer to my wife’s parents, and use it as a ‘second’ home. We have toyed with he idea for quite a while now and we have started to look for houses, and before we start speaking to mortgage advisors, we were wondering if anyone else has been in the same situation or would be able to give us some general advice.

To clarify we would not be looking to let it out as we see ourselves using it for long weekends, and for school holidays. Has anyone had experience of buying a property that remains empty for most of the year and not let it out and got a ‘regular’ mortgage? Any advice will be greatly received.

Many thanks,

YHM

Majority of lenders will not like it.

Would recommend utilising the services of a mortgage broker to find a suitable lender for you

SamuraiGiraffe

Thank you for getting back to me. We thought that might be the case. I will contact the mortgage advisor

dimbo61

So you are living in a property provided by your employer !
Do you own any other property ?
You maybe regarded as first time buyers if you have not owned a property before.
If buying in Wales and paying less than £300K you may not have to pay any stamp duty

Pixie5740

dimbo61 wrote: »

So you are living in a property provided by your employer !
Do you own any other property ?
You maybe regarded as first time buyers if you have not owned a property before.
If buying in Wales and paying less than £300K you may not have to pay any stamp duty

One of the eligibility criteria for the SDLT relief is that the property being purchased will be the purchaser’s only or main property.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661728/8274_guidance_note_SDLT_relief_for_first_time_buyers.pdf

SamuraiGiraffe

dimbo61 wrote: »

So you are living in a property provided by your employer !
Do you own any other property ?
You maybe regarded as first time buyers if you have not owned a property before.
If buying in Wales and paying less than £300K you may not have to pay any stamp duty

Yes, our employee provides us with accommodation as a requirement of our jobs. We do not own any other property.

SDLT_Geek

dimbo61 wrote: »

You maybe regarded as first time buyers if you have not owned a property before.
If buying in Wales and paying less than £300K you may not have to pay any stamp duty

But if you complete a purchase in Wales on or after 1 April 2018, stamp duty land tax is switched off. Instead land transaction tax applies. There is no first time buyers' relief for the land transaction tax.

SDLT_Geek

Pixie5740 wrote: »

One of the eligibility criteria for the SDLT relief is that the property being purchased will be the purchaser’s only or main property.

That is correct, but it does not have to become the purchaser's only or main property straight away.

In the Guidance Note at chapter 2 HMRC say “It is not necessary that the purchaser must occupy the property immediately following purchase. At the effective date of the transaction, there must be a clear intention to occupy the dwelling as the purchaser’s only or main residence and the fact that circumstances make it either impossible or impractical to immediately occupy the dwelling do not prevent relief being due”

It is interesting to compare this to the wording in SDLTM29850 for the version of first time buyers’ relief in effect from 2010 to 2012. There HMRC referred to “an ultimate intention” to live in it and said the relief could apply “even if the property is let in the short term”. At SDLTM29830 they said “There is no requirement to occupy the property immediately, and relief will not be denied if the property is let pending occupation, but there must be a clear intention to occupy.”

SamuraiGiraffe

SDLT_Geek wrote: »

That is correct, but it does not have to become the purchaser's only or main property straight away.

So we might get away with only occupying when we choose, or, could we argue that we will move into the property permanently when we change jobs?

dimbo61

What you need to do is find a suitable property and then ask questions ( find answers ) from your solicitor.
Expect to pay stamp duty and have a pot of money ready to pay any stamp duty.

Thrugelmir

SamuraiGiraffe wrote: »

So we might get away with only occupying when we choose, or, could we argue that we will move into the property permanently when we change jobs?

Lenders will set internal policy criteria. There's no debating involved. As far a lender will be concerned it's the circumstances now that matter. Not speculative assumptions.