Stamp Duty Question please

kitla

My son is buying a flat. He has been renting up till now. However, a few years ago he inherited 1/4 of a cottage, which was sold & he is using his share of the proceeds as deposit on his flat.  So my question is - is he still a first time buyer? thus exempt from stamp duty up to £300k .   Or does briefly owning a share of the cottage change that?

Keep_pedalling

If the property was sold by the estate and not transferred to the beneficiaries first then he is still a first time buyer. 

kitla

The cottage had an elderly tenant, when she died the cottage was sold by the 4 owners. So he owned a share of the property for about a year. 

BikingBud

Was it transferred from the estate of the deceased and your son added as either Joint Tenant or Tenant in Common along with the other beneficiaries and registered as such on the title register at the Land Registry?

Ih he was registered as part owner then he is not a first time buyer.
sdltm29845

SDLTM29845 - Definition of a first-time buyer FA03/SCH6ZA/PARA6
In order to count as a first-time buyer, a purchaser must not, either alone or with others, have previously acquired a major interest in a dwelling or an equivalent interest in land situated anywhere in the world, regardless of the value of that interest.
 This includes previous acquisitions by inheritance or gift, or by a financial institution on behalf of a person under an alternative finance scheme.

SDLT_Geek

kitla said:

The cottage had an elderly tenant, when she died the cottage was sold by the 4 owners. So he owned a share of the property for about a year. 

I read from this that the cottage ownership passed from the estate to the four beneficiaries, before being sold.  That would be enough for him to lose his status as first time buyer for SDLT purposes.

kitla

I guess that would be the case then. Thankyou for the info