Stamp Duty Help

gemmylouise

I bought a property which was never my main residence. I sold that property. I am now buying another property with my husband who is a first time buyer. Can I be classed as a first time buyer as my previous property was never my main residence? 

davidmcn

No, for stamp duty purposes if you've ever owned any residential property anywhere on the planet then you're not a first time buyer. Whether you lived in it is irrelevant. 

AdrianC

Have you owned a property before? Yes.
So how are you a FTB?

gemmylouise

The definition says ... if you have ever owned a property before which has been your main residence. I never lived in it so wondering if that is the loop hole, I’ll check with solicitor 

davidmcn

gemmylouise said:

The definition says ... if you have ever owned a property before which has been your main residence.

That isn't the definition. Where are you quoting it from?

trex227

In order to count as a first time buyer, a purchaser must not, either alone or with others, have previously acquired a major interest in a dwelling or an equivalent interest in land situated anywhere in the world.

The above is the definition from the government guidance notes.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759714/Stamp_Duty_Land_Tax_relief_for_first_time_buyers_-_guidance_note.pdf

Page 7

AdrianC

gemmylouise said:

The definition says ... if you have ever owned a property before which has been your main residence. I never lived in it so wondering if that is the loop hole, I’ll check with solicitor 

Google has precisely zero results for that wording with "stamp duty" or "sdlt". Where did you get it from?

The actual definition, as used by the government is...
"A first time buyer is defined as an individual or individuals who have never owned an interest in a residential property in the United Kingdom or anywhere else in the world and who intends to occupy the property as their main residence."
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stamp-duty-land-tax-relief-for-first-time-buyers/stamp-duty-land-tax-relief-for-first-time-buyers

Notice the difference?
Yours says "But it's OK to have owned a property before so long as I didn't live in it."
Theirs says "Even if you haven't owned a property before, this doesn't apply if you're not going to live in it."

[Deleted User]

gemmylouise said:

The definition says ... if you have ever owned a property before which has been your main residence. I never lived in it so wondering if that is the loop hole, I’ll check with solicitor 

Been down that road you cant .