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Best way to purchase second home shortterm in Scotland

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Early 2026 I will be taking retirement and we plan on selling up and relocating closer to our daughter in the northeast of Scotland.
Our plan had been to purchase outright our new home using our savings and my retirement lump sum...since suitable property is always for sale up there.We would then  have our own house put up for sale but given this will be in January time..our own home in the central belt might take longer to sell.I hadnt banked on additional fees / taxes for owning two proprties for possibly several months ....can anyone suggest anyway around this....thanks
H

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  • _Penny_Dreadful
    _Penny_Dreadful Posts: 1,470 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    harryc_3 said:
    Early 2026 I will be taking retirement and we plan on selling up and relocating closer to our daughter in the northeast of Scotland.
    Our plan had been to purchase outright our new home using our savings and my retirement lump sum...since suitable property is always for sale up there.We would then  have our own house put up for sale but given this will be in January time..our own home in the central belt might take longer to sell.I hadnt banked on additional fees / taxes for owning two proprties for possibly several months ....can anyone suggest anyway around this....thanks
    H
    There isn’t a way around it. If you purchase an additional dwelling the purchase will be subject to the additional dwelling supplement, an extra 8% LBTT.  You have 36 months to sell your current home to claim back the additional dwelling supplement. 
  • sheenas
    sheenas Posts: 159 Forumite
    100 Posts First Anniversary
    The house buying process is much different in Scotland and stamp duty more costly. Once your offer has been accepted the convincing process much quicker and your are committed to the
    purchase. When moving to Scotland we rented at first again a far better process and let you terminate the
    contract with a months notice. Moving up and searching at your leisure may work for you too. 
  • harryc_3
    harryc_3 Posts: 104 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks for the quick responses ....renting for a sort period is something I hadnt even considered but def something I will look into for sure 
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 15,896 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Why not list your current place earlier and just delay the move until the new place is ready? It'll be a lot easier than trying to sell a central belt property from the north east. 

    Once buyers/chains are lined up it can move pretty quickly. 
  • jennifernil
    jennifernil Posts: 5,714 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    edited Today at 11:19AM
    Selling your present property first and renting short term would avoid extra tax, but you need to take rental costs into account too.  And the cost to store furniture if that would be necessary.

    Buying first will incur the extra stamp duty, but that is refundable,  council  tax on 2 properties could  be incurred, but if the new property is unfurnished, some councils will allow a discount, you would need to check with the relevant council.   It would also give you time to do any necessary work required in your new house, always easier when it is not full of furniture.

    Time to sell your current property will very much depend on where it is and the price bracket, even in January.  
    If in a popular area the time of year is often immaterial, and agents can show buyers round if you are unable to.  Properties at the higher end of the price for the area will often take much longer to sell, even in popular areas.

    Other things to consider would be property and contents insurance, and probably the weather too.

    You need to do the arithmetic to decide what works best for you.


  • sheramber
    sheramber Posts: 22,584 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    own home in the central belt might take longer to sell.

    Does that refer to the central belt of Scotland? 

    In which case you will be aware of the buying/ selling process  in  Scotland, which is generally much quicker than in England 
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