Can I become a first time buyer again

Sean17

I bought a house with my brother in law a few years ago to help them get on the property ladder buying my grandparents house. My sister took the mortgage over from me after a few years and now I am saving for a mortgage myself. I am now losing out on savings accounts and will have to pay greater stamp duty when I purchase my house.
Does anyone know if there is a way I can become a first time buyer again (I know sounds stupid and unlikely) as I was unaware of changes that were being made to help first time buyers or I wouldn’t have helped them out.

Wicked_Lady

It doesn't sound possible to me as you have already bought a house.

Slithery

A first time buyer in the eyes of whom?

For any sort of government incentive such as stamp duty or HTB ISA then no. In this case FTB is a misnomer and it should actually be called first time owner.

For things such as special mortgage rates for FTB's then this is down to the discretion of the individual lender, most of them allow people who have previously owned property but don't anymore to qualify.

SDLT_Geek

So were you really a joint owner of the house? Sometimes people help a relative by becoming liable on the mortgage and even by being a named registered proprietor at the Land Registry. But that does not necessarily make them an "owner" for the purposes of Stamp Duty Land Tax. SDLT usually looks through to the underlying beneficial ownership. Perhaps there was a declaration of trust making it clear that you had no share in the property at all? If that was the case then you could still be a first time buyer.

FreeBear

Sean17 wrote: »

I bought a house with my brother in law a few years ago

Does anyone know if there is a way I can become a first time buyer again

Like your virginity, once gone, it is never coming back.

Although I could be a first time buyer at some stage in the future, as I inherited a property, I don't qualify for any of these FTB schemes either.