Help re Stamp Duty and New Build

Maisie11 wrote: »

Hello,

I wonder if someone can guide me please. I have two houses - my main house in West Midlands that I permanently live in with the family and a small BTL flat worth approx. £190k which I have had for 10 years.

I am looking to move and buy a new build for £420k I have some questions that hopefully someone can answer in order for me to make an informed decision.

1. My current house is potentially worth £370k. The builder has suggested that part exchange might be available. Realistically what are they likely to offer me for my old house (20% less than market value?). - they will look to sell it at market value so they will want to recover their buying & selling costs from you, as well as a margin to take away the risk of the price moving. So they'll buy from you at something below market rate, how much I'm not sure. Is there any reason you can't sell on the open market yourself?

I know it!!!8217;s a challenging market at present and its very attractive to have someone take my old house off me without the pain of showing people around etc.- you can get agents to do that. The developers will still want their surveyor & valuer around so you will need to deal with some of that.

2. The BTL is worth 190k. I make a small profit of £200 per month. We are thinking of selling the property. If I sell my BTL within 3 years what stamp duty would I pay on the new build? I recognise that I will need to pay the higher rate stamp duty initially but if I sell the BTL within 3 years do I get a refund on the higher rate stamp duty tax. - No, beause you haven't lived in the BTL recently, but that's irrelevant. The point is you're replacing your current main residence in the west.
- If you sell then buy, (or on same day) then no higher rate stamp duty
- If you buy then sell within 3 years then you pay higher rate stamp duty on purchase of the new build, but get a refund when you sell your current main residence.

3. I have heard good things about Which? mortgage brokers. I will need to borrow an additional £60k in order to fund this move overall would you recommend that I use a broker please.- In general a whole of market broker can really find a lender who isn't available to the general market or select the one providing the best rate / accepting your circumstances. Having said that, for a relatively low LTV, unless you have an unusual employment/credit history, you may be fine on your own and with a small loan size, getting a slightly better interest rate may not total as much as the broker fee - worth doing your sums.