Mortgage Confusion

ashintoms

I purchased a flat in outer London for 160K in November 2016 which we are living now. I am looking to buy a house in outer london which will be our main residence and its around 270K. My intention is to sell the flat immediately as i move into the new house and not to rent it.

What's the stamp duty i need to pay here for the house - £11600 or would i be treated as first time buyer here with stamp duty £3500 as i'm selling it anyway ? I found a house and want to move my family first before i sell the current flat,

I also heard that as i purchased the flat in November 2016, i'm also entitled to a refund if i sell before 3 years ie : November 2019.

Please can you suggest what's correct and what's the best approach i can take here?

Simby

If you already own a flat or have ever owned any property you are not a first time buyer.

If you don’t sell the flat before buying the Escondido property you will pay a higher duty but if you sell the flat immediately then you can claim a refund on the higher rate.

AnotherJoe

There is no refund of any SDLT you already paid.
If you sell/ buy as one transaction SDLT will be £3500
If you buy first and later sell the flat (within 3 years) you'll initially pay £11,600 and then can claim a refund of £8,100.
Ps note that although you can claim back after selling up to three years later the claim must happen within 3 months of selling. Eg say you sell after 1 year, if you wait a year to claim it's too late even though you are well within the 3year period.

davidmcn

Also, this has nothing to do with your mortgage.

AnotherJoe

Indeed it should be titled "SDLT confusion"