Stamp duty for first buy

jhglondon

Hello,

Apologies if this has been asked already, but is there stamp duty for a property about £300k if it's a first buy BUT also a buy-to-let?

Thank you in advance.

summer_daze009

As a first time buyer you wouldn’t normally pay stamp duty on properties up to £425,000. However, if it is a buy to let you won’t qualify for the first time buyer property tax exemption and will therefore pay stamp duty

SDLT_Geek

jhglondon said:

Hello,

Apologies if this has been asked already, but is there stamp duty for a property about £300k if it's a first buy BUT also a buy-to-let?

Thank you in advance.

Is the property in England, so the relevant stamp duty is Stamp Duty Land Tax?  The SDLT relief for first time buyers does not apply where the intention is to let the property out.

If you have no other properties (and do not have a spouse / civil partner with a property) then I would not expect the 3% extra SDLT to apply to the purchase. 

But bear in mind that if you still own this property when you buy your first property to live in, the extra 3% would apply to that purchase, even though you intend to live in it as your only or main residence.

kingstreet

jhglondon said:

Hello,

Apologies if this has been asked already, but is there stamp duty for a property about £300k if it's a first buy BUT also a buy-to-let?

Thank you in advance.

Off-topic perhaps, but do you need a mortgage and can you demonstrate affordability as if this was a residential proposition?

The lenders who will lend to FTBs for BTL purchases usually test them as a residential to ensure there is no scheme abuse (using BTL to buy a residential through the backdoor because you fail affordability on that basis.)

jhglondon

I need a mortgage, but I can afford as I have a sizeable deposit. 

Re stamp duty, is that calculated on the day of completion? I may move abroad before the sale is completed for a job. Will I have to pay non-residential rates if I cannot complete the sale before I move? 

Thanks

SDLT_Geek

jhglondon said:

I need a mortgage, but I can afford as I have a sizeable deposit. 

Re stamp duty, is that calculated on the day of completion? I may move abroad before the sale is completed for a job. Will I have to pay non-residential rates if I cannot complete the sale before I move? 

Thanks

SDLT is worked out by reference to the facts as at the day of completion (though the conveyancer will work out the amount needed in advance).

There is no question of the "non-residential rates" applying to the purchase of a residential property.

If you are thinking about the 3% extra SDLT, then that depends on whether you have a spouse / civil partner with a property.

If you have been out of the UK for 183 or days or more in the 12 months leading up to the completion of the purchase, then an extra 2% SDLT will be due on account of you counting as a non UK resident buyer.