Stamp duty on 2nd home that I want to let

Supersunset

I own a house with my partner from around 2021. I also inherited a property in 2023 which I class as my main residence . We were considering selling our jointly owned home, and buying elsewhere, but realised we would have to pay additional stamp duty on my inherited house.  I have been told that if I move back with my partner and class that house as my main residence I can then let out my inherited house , and no stamp duty would be payable on it as it is not my main residence.  Does anyone know if this is correct ? 

I am going to consult a solicitor but just wondered if anyone has any advice.
thank you. 

saajan_12

Supersunset said:

I own a house with my partner from around 2021. I also inherited a property in 2023 which I class as my main residence . We were considering selling our jointly owned home, and buying elsewhere, but realised we would have to pay additional stamp duty on my inherited house.  I have been told that if I move back with my partner and class that house as my main residence I can then let out my inherited house , and no stamp duty would be payable on it as it is not my main residence.  Does anyone know if this is correct ? 

I am going to consult a solicitor but just wondered if anyone has any advice.
thank you. 

Many things wrong here. 
- Are you married or in a civil partnership?
- Do you actually live in the inherited property? Theres no concept of classing things as your main property. 
- Did you inherit the whole second property, or part of it (and perhaps buy out others for the rest)? 

Stamp duty is paid upon purchase not now. You may have to pay a higher rate on the purchase depending on what you also own at the time. Where do you actually live? 

silvercar

Supersunset said:

I own a house with my partner from around 2021. I also inherited a property in 2023 which I class as my main residence . We were considering selling our jointly owned home, and buying elsewhere, but realised we would have to pay additional stamp duty on my inherited house.  I have been told that if I move back with my partner and class that house as my main residence I can then let out my inherited house , and no stamp duty would be payable on it as it is not my main residence.  Does anyone know if this is correct ? 

I am going to consult a solicitor but just wondered if anyone has any advice.
thank you. 

Some errors in that.

I'm assuming you are not married.

If you sell your jointly owned home and it hasn't been your main residence for the whole time of ownership, you may have a CGT liability.

If you purchase a new home while keeping the inherited home, you could have higher SDLT to pay as you are not replacing your main home.

Far better on both fronts to move into your jointly owned home.

You may, if income and finances allow, be better off having the new purchase in your partner's sole name at purchase, to avoid additional SDLT. This requires trust that they won't run off with the proceeds on a sale or chuck you out.

Supersunset

Thank you for your responses . No we are not married. We own the house as tenants in common and own 50% each. 

I inherited the second house solely from my parents and live there most of the time . We recently were thinking of  selling our jointly owned house , moving into together and renting out my inherited house , and ridiculously knew nothing about the additional stamp duty. (The Angela Rayner fiasco brought it to our attention ) 
I was told by an estate agent that if my jointly owned house is where I’m registered and I let my other house out it would be ok. 

I think it is going to be easier to sell my inherited house and pay any CGT on it. 

I will make an appointment with the solicitor I think , everything is so difficult, it’s a small bungalow not Downton Abbey. 

No I couldn’t put it solely in my partners name as we both have children from past relationships and would cause problems that we don’t need . 

saajan_12

Supersunset said:

Thank you for your responses . No we are not married. We own the house as tenants in common and own 50% each. 

I inherited the second house solely from my parents and live there most of the time . We recently were thinking of  selling our jointly owned house , moving into together and renting out my inherited house , and ridiculously knew nothing about the additional stamp duty. (The Angela Rayner fiasco brought it to our attention ) 
I was told by an estate agent that if my jointly owned house is where I’m registered and I let my other house out it would be ok. 

I think it is going to be easier to sell my inherited house and pay any CGT on it. 

I will make an appointment with the solicitor I think , everything is so difficult, it’s a small bungalow not Downton Abbey. 

No I couldn’t put it solely in my partners name as we both have children from past relationships and would cause problems that we don’t need . 

Okay so upon sale of your jointly owned house, you'll be liable the gain on your 50%. There are some allowances - did you ever live there before inheriting your parents house? 

Upon purchase of the new joint house, you'll be liable for stamp duty at the higher rate, ie extra 5%. Reason is you're buying a second property when you're not selling your main residence (ie inherited house). You can't just 'register' at the joint house, as stamp duty based on where you're actually living not based on a registration - saying otherwise would be tax evasion. 

You could sell your inherited house, save yourself the headache of becoming a landlord and invest the money elsewhere. 

silvercar

You can't just 'register' at the joint house, as stamp duty based on where you're actually living not based on a registration - saying otherwise would be tax evasion.

If you inherited within the last 2 year, you have the opportunity of which to declare to be your main residence, subject to having both available to you. After 2 years it is based on fact eg what address you use for your employer, hmrc, your doctor etc if there was a time when the jointly owned property was your home, it would reduce any CGT liability.

In terms of it being a grey area, people normally buy homes with partners in order to live in them, so the presumption that your jointly owned home is your main residence wouldn’t be unreasonable.

Supersunset

Thank you everyone for your advice.