is this an annex?

moneymagnet_2

The people buying my home are second home buyers. This is going to cost them a lot in stamp duty. To avoid this they have asked if the granite sheds adjoining the property can be classed as an annex as they feel this will reduce the duty. The sheds in question are derelict, no roof, so not habitable. My question is if I change the marketing and contract to say house with annex am I making myself liable for past council tax on the annex? I want to help them but I am not willing to do anything that will incur any costs to me.

Thanks

gwynlas

Presumably sale and purchase are being done via solicitors so if you go ahead with this couple you wll both need to lie which is not a good idea

lincroft1710

Sheds are sheds. I cannot see that misdescribing them will affect the stamp duty payable. They are NOT an annex, they will not be a second dwelling for CT purposes.

FreeBear

Describing the out buildings as anything other than derilict sheds leaves you open to being sued at a later date. Be honest in your dealings, and then there is no come-back at a later date.

baser999

Speak to your solicitor, that's what you're paying him a large fee for

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6443840/is-this-an-annex

The whole basis of the question seems mis-placed.

The Purchaser is buying a second home, so the purchase will be subject to additional rate stamp duty (extra 3% on top of standard rate).

The value assessed for calculating standard rate stamp duty is based upon the sale value and the rules are written to capture a single transaction or a series of linked transactions. For exactly this reason, otherwise people try all sorts of things to split the rate and achieve a lower stamp duty percentage:

- Buy the house and pay for the kitchen cupbaords separately

- Buy the house and pay for the sheds separately

The thing is, the stamp duty no longer has any of the cliff-edge situations that used to be the case, so the gain by the sort of splitting things out is no longer worth it.

I wouldn't bother referring to your Solicitor. Let them refer to their Solicitor and, if that then reaches you as a question bia your Solicitor, you can respond with photos and let your Solicitor assess that these roofless derelict sheds are not an annex. With any luck, the Purchaser's Solicitor will stop this in its tracks.

moneymagnet_2

Thanks everyone, it is as you say, as soon as the solicitors got a sniff of this, it went away! - Thanks for all your responses.