Letters to reclaim stamp duty?

EclipseDream1

Hi all.
We've had lots personalised letters through the door - literally just a few weeks after moving in - telling us we've probably overpaid our stamp tax as we've got a small "annex" or summer house (it's not got heating) and they can get it back for us for a whopping fee. Our lawyers weren't interested in hearing about it.
I'm presuming although not illegal it's not something to pursue, but I'm a bit concerned by how they found us and the details of our new home?!
Has anyone else experienced this?
TIA

davidmcn

The Land Registry is publicly-available, so the change of ownership isn't in any way confidential. Not sure in practice how they monitor it though - could just be cross-referencing from properties listed for sale online which have gone under offer?

M_Python

Or the estate agents are selling buyer's details to the company???

EclipseDream1

That's a scary thought!

SmashedAvacado

EclipseDream1 wrote: »

Hi all.
We've had lots personalised letters through the door - literally just a few weeks after moving in - telling us we've probably overpaid our stamp tax as we've got a small "annex" or summer house (it's not got heating) and they can get it back for us for a whopping fee. Our lawyers weren't interested in hearing about it.
I'm presuming although not illegal it's not something to pursue, but I'm a bit concerned by how they found us and the details of our new home?!
Has anyone else experienced this?
TIA

They are pushing you towards making a claim for multiple dwelling relief, which, if you have bought 2 dwellings, can bring your SDLT down quite considerably if you have bought a high value property. However, what you need to have done to enable you to claim the relief is have purchased 2 dwellings. Is the annex a separate dwelling? If so, you can claim without their involvement. If its not, you can't. Could your annex be classed as a separate dwelling? Tell us more about it, and we can point you into the right direction.

TrickyDicky101

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

They are pushing you towards making a claim for multiple dwelling relief, which, if you have bought 2 dwellings, can bring your SDLT down quite considerably if you have bought a high value property. However, what you need to have done to enable you to claim the relief is have purchased 2 dwellings. Is the annex a separate dwelling? If so, you can claim without their involvement. If its not, you can't. Could your annex be classed as a separate dwelling? Tell us more about it, and we can point you into the right direction.

Would one potential consequence of proceeding down this path be that both dwellings could need to pay council tax?

steampowered

Trying to claim that your summer house is really a "separate dwelling" sounds like a non-starter to me.

EclipseDream1

I really don't think it's a separate dwelling. Someone could live there. They'd be cold for a large portion of the year, but they could live there
Thanks all. We wanted some reassurance that we weren't being overly cynical. I'm personally very intrigued in the whole thing but not from the pov that we might do it!

SDLT_Geek

The article accessible from here https://www.blakemorgan.co.uk/news-events/blog/additional-3-stamp-duty-land-tax-surcharge-granny-/ has recently been updated and now includes an Appendix detailing factors to look out for in the physical configuration of a property to test whether it is suitable for use as a dwelling.