Imminent marriage - house not selling!!! - HELP

silvercar

The OP is new (welcome @GettingMarriedLouise ).

let’s not derail the thread with opinions on their wedding. She has asked for the situation regarding the tax on house purchases, please focus on that. 

saajan_12 said:

GettingMarriedLouise said:

The impending marriage is worrying me - if his house doesn't sell before we are married we go into the marriage with two primary residences. Are we charged for this by the government as we have two homes as soon as we get married - If he then sells his home is he then charged again for stamp duty on this new property

This would financially ruin us, and we need to make decisions now as to whether to cancel the wedding or not - I don't think his house will sell in time, we cannot be burdened with this amount of financial risk and plan a marriage - Im going slowly grey with the thought of all this 

No, if you already own two properties between you, then the act of getting married doesn't trigger a charge. However if you buy a 2nd (or 3rd etc) property WHEN you are married, that could trigger a charge, subject to any exceptions. 

Eg assuming you're in England
* If fiance moved house pre-marriage --> Then normal SDLT due as he's replacing his main residence
* If you got married and moved into 'his' house, renting yours out. Then sell 'his' house and simultaneously buy a new one --> Then normal SDLT due as youre both replacing your joint main residence
* If you got married and moved into 'your' house. Then later sell 'his' house and buy a new one --> Then higher rate SDLT due as you're not replacing your main residence. 

Or you could just sell his house and stick to one, investing the rest of the money and saving the headache. 

^^ this is the position on SDLT. 

For any future CGT calculation, you have the option to declare which one is your joint primary principal residence (PPR) after marriage, though you would be exempt for the last 9 months of ownership and have CGT allowances. Though once you rent a property out it obviously can’t be your PPR while it is tenanted.

ReadySteadyPop

Mark_d said:

GettingMarriedLouise said:

Hi there,

My fiancé and I own a house each, located in separate sides of the country - Our plan is to sell his and for his to purchase another one nearer to me. We are getting married in may next year - my husband to be is trying to sell his - but in the current climate we are not getting any interest. so we think we will incur some financial difficulties which could mean us having to cancel the wedding - I don't really understand the complexities of what I need to pay the government if we own two houses 

His plan was to sell his house and buy a new house nearer to me (we live on opposite sides of the country). We will then rent mine out as a separate residence. He is living with me a couple of weeks a month, we move between the houses, but I have to be in my areas for work. this is working fine for us. 

The impending marriage is worrying me - if his house doesn't sell before we are married we go into the marriage with two primary residences. Are we charged for this by the government as we have two homes as soon as we get married - If he then sells his home is he then charged again for stamp duty on this new property

This would financially ruin us, and we need to make decisions now as to whether to cancel the wedding or not - I don't think his house will sell in time, we cannot be burdened with this amount of financial risk and plan a marriage - Im going slowly grey with the thought of all this 

Why not just rent his house out so you both live at your current place?

In my block of flats, the flat opposite me sold for 25% less than I believe it was worth.  Flats in my building just aren't selling at the moment.  So if we were desperate to move, then we'd just have to rent this place out and possibly make a loss each month.

As it happens I was in a similar situation when I got married 20 years ago.  I moved in with my spouse but had my flat sitting empty for a good 6 months before it sold.  It meant our wedding had to be low budget...but we made up for that with a huge tenth wedding anniversary celebration.

Any property is only worth what the market says it is worth. We don`t know if the OP has a mortgage on the second home, we don`t know if they will make any profit on it, or when they bought? Renting out is full of legal obligations and costs, more costs if you want an agent to do the work? 

ReadySteadyPop

GettingMarriedLouise said:

Hi there,

My fiancé and I own a house each, located in separate sides of the country - Our plan is to sell his and for his to purchase another one nearer to me. We are getting married in may next year - my husband to be is trying to sell his - but in the current climate we are not getting any interest. so we think we will incur some financial difficulties which could mean us having to cancel the wedding - I don't really understand the complexities of what I need to pay the government if we own two houses 

His plan was to sell his house and buy a new house nearer to me (we live on opposite sides of the country). We will then rent mine out as a separate residence. He is living with me a couple of weeks a month, we move between the houses, but I have to be in my areas for work. this is working fine for us. 

The impending marriage is worrying me - if his house doesn't sell before we are married we go into the marriage with two primary residences. Are we charged for this by the government as we have two homes as soon as we get married - If he then sells his home is he then charged again for stamp duty on this new property

This would financially ruin us, and we need to make decisions now as to whether to cancel the wedding or not - I don't think his house will sell in time, we cannot be burdened with this amount of financial risk and plan a marriage - Im going slowly grey with the thought of all this 

How long have you been trying to sell, how many views have you had?

ReadySteadyPop

Mark_d said:

GettingMarriedLouise said:

Hi there,

My fiancé and I own a house each, located in separate sides of the country - Our plan is to sell his and for his to purchase another one nearer to me. We are getting married in may next year - my husband to be is trying to sell his - but in the current climate we are not getting any interest. so we think we will incur some financial difficulties which could mean us having to cancel the wedding - I don't really understand the complexities of what I need to pay the government if we own two houses 

His plan was to sell his house and buy a new house nearer to me (we live on opposite sides of the country). We will then rent mine out as a separate residence. He is living with me a couple of weeks a month, we move between the houses, but I have to be in my areas for work. this is working fine for us. 

The impending marriage is worrying me - if his house doesn't sell before we are married we go into the marriage with two primary residences. Are we charged for this by the government as we have two homes as soon as we get married - If he then sells his home is he then charged again for stamp duty on this new property

This would financially ruin us, and we need to make decisions now as to whether to cancel the wedding or not - I don't think his house will sell in time, we cannot be burdened with this amount of financial risk and plan a marriage - Im going slowly grey with the thought of all this 

Why not just rent his house out so you both live at your current place?

In my block of flats, the flat opposite me sold for 25% less than I believe it was worth.  Flats in my building just aren't selling at the moment.  So if we were desperate to move, then we'd just have to rent this place out and possibly make a loss each month.

As it happens I was in a similar situation when I got married 20 years ago.  I moved in with my spouse but had my flat sitting empty for a good 6 months before it sold.  It meant our wedding had to be low budget...but we made up for that with a huge tenth wedding anniversary celebration.

One reason would be the many pitfalls awaiting the unwary/inexperienced landlord, the forum is full of examples.