SDLT advice /opinions

mishkab12

Hi all 
I need some advice (i know you aren't regulated advisors and i may need professional help)
I'm hoping to buy my first house/asset. I haven't owned property ever anywhere in the world 
I live with my husband in a house that he is owner of (mortgage is in his name only)

I was of the opinion that I can buy a housr in my name without paying sdlt as I'm first time buyer. My own income and financial circumstances mean that i can afford and own a property without needing my husband to be on mortgage.

My husband plans to rent out his house (via consent to let or buy to let) and will move in with me. Therefore will only have one main residence (the new house that i will own).

I rang HMRC and the advisor on phone said it should be fine, but the mortgage broker I'm engaging is of the opinion that I will need yo pay higher rate of sdlt as me and my husband are "one unit" for this new mortgage 

But my point is the current home is not my debt,  the bank only considered my husband's income and commitments when they gave him this mortgage, why will i need to pay sdlt on my new house where he will live but won't own anything in terns of mortgage debt.

davidmcn

mishkab12 said:

But my point is the current home is not my debt,  the bank only considered my husband's income and commitments when they gave him this mortgage, why will i need to pay sdlt on my new house where he will live but won't own anything in terns of mortgage debt.

Because those are the rules. SDLT has nothing at all to do with mortgages, just ownership. You're married to somebody who already owns a property, so if you buy one then it's treated as an additional property.

mishkab12

Haha yeah i get the rules part but I'm not the owner of his house and he wont own mine.
Is there any way i won't need to pay for my first property (except divorcing him)

Slithery

Nope, afraid not.

greatcrested

No. Divorce is the only option I'm afraid.

As a married couple you are considered a single unit for SDLT purposes.

Marriage has legal pros and cons. If you ever DO divorce, the courts would consider the entire marriage assets in settling who gets what. So you might be awarded his property, or a % of his pension rights.

But in the current scenario it works against you - the 'marriage' currently includes ownership of a property so you are not a FTB.

mishkab12

greatcrested said:

No. Divorce is the only option I'm afraid.

As a married couple you are considered a single unit for SDLT purposes.

Marriage has legal pros and cons. If you ever DO divorce, the courts would consider the entire marriage assets in settling who gets what. So you might be awarded his property, or a % of his pension rights.

But in the current scenario it works against you - the 'marriage' currently includes ownership of a property so you are not a FTB.

Wow! That's incredible 
If i didn't paid a penny in his house's deposit contribution, i can walk away with half of his money?!
I have nothing joint with my husband in terms of liabilities and only joint bank account for bills, sounds unfair that his first house as a single person was just a cheap place under sdlt threshold
Now, I wonder why HMRC staff will tell me it was ok! Should they not know better?

greatcrested

mishkab12 said:

greatcrested said:

No. Divorce is the only option I'm afraid.

As a married couple you are considered a single unit for SDLT purposes.

Marriage has legal pros and cons. If you ever DO divorce, the courts would consider the entire marriage assets in settling who gets what. So you might be awarded his property, or a % of his pension rights.

But in the current scenario it works against you - the 'marriage' currently includes ownership of a property so you are not a FTB.

Wow! That's incredible 
If i didn't paid a penny in his house's deposit contribution, i can walk away with half of his money?!
I have nothing joint with my husband in terms of liabilities and only joint bank account for bills, sounds unfair that his first house as a single person was just a cheap place under sdlt threshold
Now, I wonder why HMRC staff will tell me it was ok! Should they not know better?

I'm no divorce lawyer, but it's more complex than "i can walk away with half of his money?!" I believe they consider things like

* who brought how much to the marriage

* how long the marrige lasted ( the longer it was, the more gets shared)

* whether there are children, and if so who gets custody

* what needs the children have, and hence the party who has custody

etc etc

The point is, by getting married you are combining your lives and that includes your finances. I'm surprised you sound surprised. What did you think it meant????!

Yes- either the HMRC adviser was wrong, or he misundersood what you were asking.

mishkab12

I married for love and therefore won't divorce just to avoid sdlt.
I appreciate your input though.
Re HMRC, yeah liklihood is they didn't know what they were talking about or what I meant.
Think we need to see what happens/are options if my husband lets out his house and then we buy a new place. His current house is much cheaper than the one I'm wanting to buy

Talk about being financially stable and having plans for retirement.

[Deleted User]

mishkab12 said:

I married for love and therefore won't divorce just to avoid sdlt.
I appreciate your input though.
Re HMRC, yeah liklihood is they didn't know what they were talking about or what I meant.
Think we need to see what happens/are options if my husband lets out his house and then we buy a new place. His current house is much cheaper than the one I'm wanting to buy

Talk about being financially stable and having plans for retirement.

You cannot rely on the call centre staff at HMRC to give you any kind of tax advice or to even have read their own bloody manuals.  Strange but true.  The internal manuals are publicly available for you to read yourself though.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm09730

mishkab12

Thank you very much for the link. 
I did read the page on gov.uk, and it said 'you or anyone buying with you are an FTB is eligible for relief' and that's what my understanding was till the mortgage broker said otherwise.
I am actually minded to put in a complaint about this to hmrc

At no place it refers to 'married people' as exception. It however does say you'll pay higher rate if you end up owning two properties.

Which legally won't be true? as I am not named on my husband's place and he won't be named on mine (if i buy it)

Other people here have mentioned that as married couple we are one unit and as such despite not being named on deeds I sort of "own" a property!

blue_max_3

If one of you were to die, the other would inherit a property (unless left to someone else). So, just because one of you has it in your own name, it is considered a joint asset.