Stamp duty - question

spelyam

Hi All,
question on stamp Duty please.
I have a 50% share in a Buy to let ( My grandparents house )
currently living with Parents and planning to buy my first home . do i pay the standard Stamp Duty or the Higher rate ?
the property is at £260000

I have looked online and this is what i have found :
Replacing a main residence
In most cases someone already owning a buy to let property, who wishes to move house, should not be liable for the higher SDLT rate. This is because there is no retrospective tax to pay on the existing buy to let property, and the owner plans to replace their main residence.

Similarly a property investor who already owns multiple buy to let properties should not be liable for the the higher rate of stamp duty if they decide to move. Again this is because the owner plans to replace their main residence and there is no retrospective tax to pay on their existing buy to let portfolio.

Any help would be much appreciated .
Many thanks
Yaman

Slithery

You will pay the higher rate for additional properties unless you first sell your share in the rental.

The wording that you quoted above is for people selling their main residence and buying a different main residence which isn't relevant in your case - you won't be replacing your main residence as you don't currently own it.

davidmcn

You're only "replacing" your main residence if you are selling your existing main residence. Which you're not, because you don't even own it. So the additional rate will apply to your purchase.

AnotherJoe

In what respect do you have a half share in this BTL? Are you getting half the rent?
And yes, the wording you quoted there is somewhat confusing but the bad news is, you are liable to pay the extra.

spelyam

thanks for reply . the buy to Let is with my brother in Law . we bought his gand parents house to keep the house in the family.
the rent goes into our joint account and serves to pay for bills none of us is taking in money from the account . im not sure if that helps ?

thanks

Slithery

It makes no difference regarding your SDLT query.

You have been filing a tax return every year declaring this rental income and paying the required tax, yes?

spelyam

yes i have . 50% of the rental income

AnotherJoe

spelyam wrote: »

thanks for reply . the buy to Let is with my brother in Law . we bought his grand parents house to keep the house in the family.
the rent goes into our joint account and serves to pay for bills none of us is taking in money from the account . im not sure if that helps ?

thanks

Just checking whether you got any benefit from it, because it is going to cost you in the extra SDLT and lack of FTB freebies such as no SDLT. Its not infrequent you get a poster here who owns a share in a house for (usually spurious) tax saving reasons which has messed up their FTB stamp duty savings plus needing to pay the extra, and yet get nothing for it.

AdrianC

It's very simple.

You now (jointly) own one property. You do not live in it. You will not be selling it.
You are buying another property. You will finish up owning two properties.

Yes, +3%, all day long. No wiggle-room, no questions, no debate, no opinions. Slap bang into the +3%...

Crashy_Time

AdrianC wrote: »

It's very simple.

You now (jointly) own one property. You do not live in it. You will not be selling it.
You are buying another property. You will finish up owning two properties.

Yes, +3%, all day long. No wiggle-room, no questions, no debate, no opinions. Slap bang into the +3%...

Ouch........

spelyam

ill just sit in one corner and swallow my sorrows