First time buyer eligibility in the UK

NikiJ90

Hi, I am looking to buy a property in the UK for which I want to understand whether u qualify as a first time buyer. I initiated the purchase of a residential property in India (it was a property that was supposed to be constructed over a period of time and directly purchased from the property developer). Since then, I paid off the full consideration of the property to the developer but a handover is pending as u have not paid the final charges (maintenance, fit out, etc.) and the property is not registered (stamp duty is not paid). 

It is a bit of a grey area as I am unsure whether I will be classified as the owner of the property if it is not registered yet - impacting my first time buyer eligibility in the UK. Has anyone been in a similar situation before? 

SDLT_Geek

NikiJ90 said:

Hi, I am looking to buy a property in the UK for which I want to understand whether u qualify as a first time buyer. I initiated the purchase of a residential property in India (it was a property that was supposed to be constructed over a period of time and directly purchased from the property developer). Since then, I paid off the full consideration of the property to the developer but a handover is pending as u have not paid the final charges (maintenance, fit out, etc.) and the property is not registered (stamp duty is not paid). 

It is a bit of a grey area as I am unsure whether I will be classified as the owner of the property if it is not registered yet - impacting my first time buyer eligibility in the UK. Has anyone been in a similar situation before? 

Some questions first: 

1.  Is the property you are buying going to be in England (where the relevant stamp duty is stamp duty land tax)?

2.  Will you be living in the UK property as your home?

3.  Is the price between £125,000 and £500,000?  (Outside that bracket, after 31.03.25, first time buyers' relief does not help).

Assuming the answers to all three questions are "yes" then whether first time buyers' relief is available will come down to whether under the local Indian law you have an equivalent interest in the residential property in India to a freehold or long leasehold interest in English law.  That is likely to depend on whether a conveyance deed has been made.

If it turns out you do have an interest in the Indian property equivalent to an English law freehold or leasehold, then your position might be worse than the loss of first time buyers' relief.  If the Indian property is now worth £40,000 or more, then the extra 5% SDLT could apply.