Fixtures & Fittings - Affects on Stamp Duty?

maddie67

We have an offer accepted on a house, unfortunately we have lost our buyers but in the meantime, the valuation had been carried out on the house we are buying and it was valued at the purchase price. Our vendors have said they will hold on for a little while (as they are in no rush) and hopefully we will find a buyer quickly, until then, everything is on hold. Yesterday, our solicitor sent us the fixtures and fittings form from our vendor and we were a little surprised to find that the (made to measure) wooden blinds are excluded, as are all of the light fittings. There are a few other things excluded but the only thing that annoyed me was these. Firstly because one of the light fittings came with the house when it was built (thanks to the power of the internet), I found the original sales details with photos from the builder which clearly shows this light fitting. And why on earth would you remove purpose made blinds?

Anyway, my question is, if we agreed to buy these and the other items, how would this affect the Stamp Duty and the valuation as the purchase price will have increased. I imagine they are expecting us to pay them separately, but to be honest, we dont have the spare cash to pay for these 'extras' on top of all of the moving costs?

pinklady21

There was a similar question about this on here the other day I think.
You could revert to the vendors and say that you were under the impression these items were included in the price you offered and see what they say.

If you agree an additional price specifically for the items, it may be that this amount could be excluded from the Stamp Duty calculation if they are deemed to be moveables rather than part of the fabric of the building.

However best to check with your solicitor for precise advice. Best of luck.

00ec25

the term you need is "chattel"
if defined as a chattel the item's value is not subject to SDLT
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm04010

maddie67 wrote: »

Anyway, my question is, if we agreed to buy these and the other items, how would this affect the Stamp Duty and the valuation as the purchase price will have increased. I imagine they are expecting us to pay them separately, but to be honest, we dont have the spare cash to pay for these 'extras' on top of all of the moving costs?

yes the total amount you pay may be higher but the SDLT return will show a property price and a chattels price. SDLT is paid on the former, not the latter.

• blinds (purpose made and fitted or not) will not be subject to SDLT
  
• nor will light fittings unless they are recessed and therefore visibly built into the physical fabric of the building

davidmcn

Given that there are no longer dramatic steps in SDLT liability, the amount of some second-hand blinds etc is hardly going to be significant either way, surely?

hazyjo

You'll prob find they'll leave them anyway (unless you pee them off greatly during the purchase). Some people give themselves the option to take them out of spite I reckon!


If you do to make it known you want them, it'll prob be done as a separate cash deal. If you're thinking it's running into more than a few hundred, I'd forget it anyway and buy new or opt for cheaper curtains until you can afford to fit what you want. Wouldn't be paying thousands or even high hundreds for second hand stuff that they may well end up leaving.

kingstreet

maddie67 wrote: »

we were a little surprised to find that the (made to measure) wooden blinds are excluded, as are all of the light fittings. There are a few other things excluded but the only thing that annoyed me was these

Did you make an offer specifically requesting these be included? Do they appear on the Memorandum Of Sale as a result?

TBH this is all moot right now as you are unproceedable and need a new buyer ASAP before you make further enquiries of these items...

maddie67

davidmcn wrote: »

Given that there are no longer dramatic steps in SDLT liability, the amount of some second-hand blinds etc is hardly going to be significant either way, surely?

Probably not, but its not just blinds, there's a fair bit of stuff excluded, which, if removed will completely change the look of the property. I was just mentioning the blinds as they are bespoke.

maddie67

kingstreet wrote: »

Did you make an offer specifically requesting these be included? Do they appear on the Memorandum Of Sale as a result?

TBH this is all moot right now as you are unproceedable and need a new buyer ASAP before you make further enquiries of these items...

No, we didnt specifically mention they be included, mainly because they are bespoke and we were daft enough to think they would be staying.

Yes, we do need to find a buyer, but I thought whilst we are waiting it would do no harm to find out and resolve the issue so we we know where we are when we are in a position to proceed