Stamp duty

jodied73

Hello, I am in the process of buying my FIRST home. My husband had a mortgage many years ago (probably about 15 years ago). I'm muddled if we will therefore pay stamp duty? Some places I've read say we will as husband is not a first time buyer. Also the house is £225K which again I am not sure if the sum exempts from stamp duty regardless of first time buyers or not!
HELP¬!!!!!

kingstreet

The mortgage is a red herring. You can be party to a mortgage and not own a property.

Did he own a property? If he did, £2,000 SDLT will be payable.

jodied73

thanks for your reply. Yes, husband had a joint mortgage with his then partner. So im thinking we will be paying stamp duty?

kingstreet

Forgive the apparent pedantry but you can be party to a joint mortgage and not own a property. It is only property ownership which affects SDLT liability not mortgage history.

If he has owned a property at any time in the past, the SDLT liability will be £2,000.

jodied73

sorry, just thinking, could we take the mortgage as joint but add just me to the house deeds to avoid stamp duty?

K_S

jodied73 said:

sorry, just thinking, could we take the mortgage as joint but add just me to the house deeds to avoid stamp duty?

@jodied73 As your husband doesn't own any other properties at present, as per this Guardian article, it appears that if you bought in your sole name you could still claim FTB stamp duty relief. 
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/feb/24/does-being-married-stop-me-from-being-a-first-time-buyer