Will i have to pay the higher stamp fee

confuseddouble

hi all,

i had a mortgage jointly with my mother and i have now completed the change of borrower application to remove my name. Mortgage is all updated but land registry is not updated yet.

I am also in the middle of purchasing my own place and the exchange is about to happen but now the solicitor is saying i will have to pay the higher stamp fee due to land registry record not being updated yet.

the change of borrower application was expedited but the delay is causing concerns.

Will i have to still pay the higher fee even when it is clearly pending at land registry.

Anyone had similar experience?

Thank you

subjecttocontract

Why would you accept the answer from an internet chat forum over the word of your solicitor ?

Land_Registry

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6667133/will-i-have-to-pay-the-higher-stamp-fee

Others will post base don own experiences

SDLT is generally payable within 14 days of completion. I assume that by referencing the other property as being a factor that you are referring to the extra SDLT payable re a second home -

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Residential property rates - GOV.UK

Your solicitor is best placed to explain whether the completion date of the transfer from you and your Mother to just her impacts or whether it's the registration date. We don't deal with SDLT directly but it would read to me as you would be dealing with completion dates in both cases and not for example a registration date

NB - the change of borrower application is presumably what you completed for the lender. If you are no longer the legal owner of the first property the two of you will have had to transfer the legal ownership from your joint names to just your Mum as well

confuseddouble

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81989083#Comment_81989083

Clarification- the change of borrower already completed. The land registry has been notified but it’s still pending.

New purchase exchange date are set for end of month but if the land registry doesn’t update records from previous application before this, i will have to pay a higher fee? Or if the application shows as pending will that be enough evidence to prove that i no longer legally own a property

thank you

silvercar

Hi @confuseddouble welcome to the forum.

It's more than notifying the Land Registry that you are not on the mortgage, it is necessary to alter the deeds so you no longer are the (joint) owner of the property. Normally these things go hand in hand as the lender won't allow you to remain on the deeds without being on the mortgage. Best to check with the solicitor handling the mortgage transfer that this has happened.

Once that has happened, I would have thought that is sufficient. Maybe a letter confirming from one solicitor to the other will suffice.

user1977

If by “still pending” you mean the transfer of ownership has completed then you are no longer the owner. How long the Land Registry then takes to process the application is irrelevant.

Otherwise even “normal” house moves (where you sell and buy simultaneously) could mean a period where you are registered as owner of two properties. That isn’t how it’s interpreted for SDLT purposes.

Land_Registry

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81989545#Comment_81989545

precisely why you need to check and confirm such details with your solicitor and HMRC.
user1977 and silvercar are spot on with their posts - you need to understand what ‘change of borrower’ actually entails both re the mortgage (lender requirements) and legal ownership (our requirements). And how and when SDLT is payable and at what amount. SDLT in my experience is always linked to completion and whether something is ‘pending’ with us has no impact unless of course you can’t ‘complete’ the next transaction, which shouldn’t be true in your scenario but your solicitor should be able to explain/confirm for you