Non-resident stamp duty

jhglondon

Hello,

I just moved abroad, but I want to buy a flat in London for when I retire. I left the UK in October. I was wondering two things:

1. The 183 day rule is calculated according to what day? The day of contract exchange? Or the day of payment or offer?

2. All online calculators say I only have to pay 2% surcharge, because I'm a first-time buyer. Is this right? If I don't rent it out, and it's not my second home, is the 2% all I have to pay even when I pass the non-resident threshold of 183 days?

Many thanks,

Brie

Can't answer your questions but won't you have problems and extra expense if it's empty?  Thinking insurance will be invalid and you'll get a double whack of council tax.  

user1977

The rules haven't changed since you asked the same question in June

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6450822/stamp-duty-for-first-buy

SDLT_Geek

jhglondon said:

Hello,

I just moved abroad, but I want to buy a flat in London for when I retire. I left the UK in October. I was wondering two things:

1. The 183 day rule is calculated according to what day? The day of contract exchange? Or the day of payment or offer?

2. All online calculators say I only have to pay 2% surcharge, because I'm a first-time buyer. Is this right? If I don't rent it out, and it's not my second home, is the 2% all I have to pay even when I pass the non-resident threshold of 183 days?

Many thanks,

The 183 day test is calculated for the year up to the completion of the purchase.

If you qualify for first time buyers’ relief and the price is below £425K then only the 2% SDLT is due.  But it might be a stretch to say you intend to live in the property as your only or main residence, when you live abroad.

lika_86

Brie said:

Can't answer your questions but won't you have problems and extra expense if it's empty?  Thinking insurance will be invalid and you'll get a double whack of council tax.  

This. My insurance requires I do at least an overnight stay every 60 days, many require you stay overnight every 30 days.

Why not invest the money until you return and then decide to buy then if that's what you then want to do?

GDB2222

lika_86 said:

Brie said:

Can't answer your questions but won't you have problems and extra expense if it's empty?  Thinking insurance will be invalid and you'll get a double whack of council tax.  

This. My insurance requires I do at least an overnight stay every 60 days, many require you stay overnight every 30 days.

Why not invest the money until you return and then decide to buy then if that's what you then want to do?

There's no investment, other than another property, that is guaranteed to keep pace with property prices. 

In practice, unless the OP is only going abroad for a very short period, the only way to deal with this is to rent the property out. If that has unfortunate SDLT consequences, the OP will need to do his sums carefully and find the least bad option. That may mean taking a risk on the stock market, rather than buying property.