Second Property closer to work

lisyloo

MrKiss wrote: »

interested to know if you offset the cost by renting out any of the properties?

No we don’t.
It would be a huge hassle to relocate all our stuff, become a landlord remotely and find somewhere else to live when we come home.

We simply look at it as an expense which is affordable on a 6 figure salary and justifiable if you have a great (or well paid) job.
For the first 2 years it was a limited company expense (we still had to pay for it but more tax efficient).

You can only have one home as a married couple and for completeness you cannot (legally) get a “fake” divorce.
This is sometimes joked about on forums but I did look into it as I’m the inquisitive sort.
There are 5 grounds for divorce and lying about them for a tax advantage would be tax evasion.

Personally I would not buy early to secure the £25k.
You are chancing capital falls, have cgt and stamp duty plus an insurance nightmare.

getmore4less

£100k+ income will get you somewhere commutable(<1hr+ london travel) in the wedge between A41 and A10 and still have easy(ish) access to Norfolk.

lisyloo

getmore4less wrote: »

£100k+ income will get you somewhere commutable(<1hr+ london travel) in the wedge between A41 and A10 and still have easy(ish) access to Norfolk.

But the question is whether it’s worth buying a second property early to obtain the £25k gross benefit?

getmore4less

lisyloo wrote: »

Surely that depends how encumbered you are on the principle residence already?

that was for when they both decide to move, they won't get priced out of the market which was a worry.

However, knowing that one day we will move closer to work (most likely Hertfordshire or Cambridgeshire) I wanted to find a way to utilise the relocation allowance and prevent being totally priced out of the market. I live in Norfolk in an area where properties are cheap but growth is very flat

getmore4less

A better option might be to make the move to the preferred commute location making that the main residence selling the current place avoiding the extra SDLT on the more expensive place.

Then buy a cheaper bolt hole back in the Norfolk area to deal with the ongoing commitments there.

lisyloo

getmore4less wrote: »

A better option might be to make the move to the preferred commute location making that the main residence selling the current place avoiding the extra SDLT on the more expensive place.

Then buy a cheaper bolt hole back in the Norfolk area to deal with the ongoing commitments there.

Maybe you’d let the wife have her own row on the spreadsheet as “ongoing commitment”? :-))

But yes it’s a good suggestion worth considering.

MrKiss

lisyloo wrote: »

You can only have one home as a married couple and for completeness you cannot (legally) get a “fake” divorce.
This is sometimes joked about on forums but I did look into it as I’m the inquisitive sort.
There are 5 grounds for divorce and lying about them for a tax advantage would be tax evasion.

Tbh this is something that has been looming for a few years (for reasons not related to this topic). However, that's a discussion for another thread

lisyloo wrote: »

Personally I would not buy early to secure the £25k.
You are chancing capital falls, have cgt and stamp duty plus an insurance nightmare.

Agreed, after weighing up the actual money that would land in my bank account and the additional cost involved, it think it is a no go.

MrKiss

getmore4less wrote: »

A better option might be to make the move to the preferred commute location making that the main residence selling the current place avoiding the extra SDLT on the more expensive place.

Then buy a cheaper bolt hole back in the Norfolk area to deal with the ongoing commitments there.

I don't i could find something better than my current property. We bought our house in 2012 as a repo and paid less than i earn. I check Rightmove almost everyday for bargains and i have seen nothing that comes even close in 7 years.

getmore4less

Given what you have said I think I would stick with the commute and look to some flexible working to eliminate some of the 20hrs from 10 trips a week.

A Combination of work from home and stay local overnights could increase the amount of valuable home time significantly.

Getting a property just increases the time commitments unless you can make it a home and have the wife do some commutes the other way.

MrKiss

getmore4less wrote: »

Given what you have said I think I would stick with the commute and look to some flexible working to eliminate some of the 20hrs from 10 trips a week.

A Combination of work from home and stay local overnights could increase the amount of valuable home time significantly.

Getting a property just increases the time commitments unless you can make it a home and have the wife do some commutes the other way.

Fully aligned with what i currently do. I stay down one night a week with my mum and work from home one day. This helps break up the commute.