Am I a second home owner

Scrtc

Hi All

I currently rent my house from my landlord and intend to stay there for most of each year. 

I am thinking of buying a house in Wales that is currently a holiday let and renting it out as a holiday let for 6 months over the year and use it to live there in the other 6 months. As I do not own the house I rent and will be using it - if I buy the new house in Wales is it classed as a second home for stamp duty?

Olinda99

it is all about ownership at the land registry so if you buy the house in Wales that will be your first purchase and will not attract the extra SDLT as you do not currently own a house

user1977

Olinda99 said:

it is all about ownership at the land registry so if you buy the house in Wales that will be your first purchase and will not attract the extra SDLT as you do not currently own a house

It's not SDLT, it's LTT, and there are significantly different rules about holiday homes.

housebuyer143

Read up on Wales rules - you will be paying significantly more CT and it won't be long before they bring in licensing for sure. 
If you are alright with that, then it won't attract any stamp duty depending on its value. Under £225k is no duty but over that is 6% and they have no FTB relief. 

Scrtc

Olinda what is LTT?

Scrtc

housebuyer143- thanks .

I have done that and I assume the cT you mean the council tax increase in Wales for second homes- the house is already registered by its current owners as a holiday let business- so I am not concerned about that just whether I would have to pay the 6%

user1977

Scrtc said:

Olinda what is LTT?

Land Transaction Tax: https://www.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-guide

which has been "stamp duty" in Wales since 2018.

Scrtc

Olinda- Land Transaction Tax the welsh version of SD

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Scrtc said:

housebuyer143- thanks .

I have done that and I assume the cT you mean the council tax increase in Wales for second homes- the house is already registered by its current owners as a holiday let business- so I am not concerned about that just whether I would have to pay the 6%

Just as a side note, occupancy rates for business rate relief on short term lets are higher in Wales than they are England.

housebuyer143

Scrtc said:

housebuyer143- thanks .

I have done that and I assume the cT you mean the council tax increase in Wales for second homes- the house is already registered by its current owners as a holiday let business- so I am not concerned about that just whether I would have to pay the 6%

Anything over £225k you will pay 6% on.

Bookworm105

Scrtc said:

Hi All

I currently rent my house from my landlord and intend to stay there for most of each year. 

I am thinking of buying a house in Wales that is currently a holiday let and renting it out as a holiday let for 6 months over the year and use it to live there in the other 6 months. As I do not own the house I rent and will be using it - if I buy the new house in Wales is it classed as a second home for stamp duty?

no it is not a second home even though, it appears, it will not attain the status of your main home since for part of the year it will let as a holiday home. The LTT rules follow the same principle as SDLT

in order to be a second "home" you have to already own a major interest in an existing property which you will retain (ie you will go from 1 to 2 properties in your name)
Higher rates for purchases of residential property: technical guidance | GOV.WALES

"LTTA/8100 An ‘only or main residence’

It’s a question of fact as to what’s someone’s only or main residence. Not dependent upon ownership of the place of residence by the individual living in the property.

Most individuals have only one place of residence. That dwelling being their only or main residence.

For example:

• a person who owns a flat and lives there permanently
• a person who rents a flat, and it’s where they live permanently

If an individual rents a dwelling that’s their only or main residence and also owns a dwelling, they let out, even though they own one dwelling and rent the other, the dwelling they own will not be their only or main residence"

a major interest means
- own the freehold of a property 
- own a leasehold property which has more than 21 years remaining on the lease

you rent from a LL, you do not own a lease of the place you currently live. Your only interest in the place you live at the moment is a time limited tenancy agreement which I seriously doubt is for more than 21 years !

You will not be buying a second home