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Stamp Duty - Imminent Exchange

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Yorkshireman79
Yorkshireman79 Posts: 26 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
Hi,
Anyone else in a similar position and considering next steps?

We are probably 2 weeks from exchange. Our Buyers want to be in asap so I dont want to hold them up so would consider rented. The house we are buying would cost us 8.5k in SD so a considerable saving if there are changes to stamp duty next 4-8 weeks.

Ridiculous that ministers are discussing this publicly and adding unnecessary question marks over SD.
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  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    I agree it's unhelpful chat for them to be having. Nobody even knows when the next Budget will be. There's also quite a high likelihood of another Budget following swiftly on, after a Brexit and/or a change of government. How long do you want to twiddle your thumbs for?
  • muhandis
    muhandis Posts: 994 Forumite
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    edited 17 August 2019 at 9:32AM
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    There was a bit of chatter on the forum when the news first came out a few weeks ago with buyers having second thoughts.

    And now this from the chancellor. Completely agree with your sentiment, all this chatter is quite irresponsible and risks further slowing of an already slow market, especially in areas with higher house prices and significant levels of SDLT, even for FTBs. Especially when it leads to headlines like these...

    273-CB1-D3-DB5-F-41-F4-B559-55002-A112-E2-A.jpg
    Yorkshireman79 wrote: »
    Ridiculous that ministers are discussing this publicly and adding unnecessary question marks over SD.
  • BobQ
    BobQ Posts: 11,181 Forumite
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    I can see it is not helpful but the next few months will see a wave of populist policy announcements. That said Javid has only made a vague statement refusing to rule out the change. He has yet to square the low tax policies with the s[ending commitments of BoJo.
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/16/sajid-javid-refuses-to-rule-out-stamp-duty-reversal-so-seller-pays
    Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.
  • Surrey_EA
    Surrey_EA Posts: 2,042 Forumite
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    Yorkshireman79 wrote: »
    would cost us 8.5k in SD so a considerable saving if there are changes to stamp duty next 4-8 weeks.

    Depends what the changes are, surely?

    No guarantee even if there are changes that you will better off.
  • pimento
    pimento Posts: 6,243 Forumite
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    I'm downsizing so if I have to pay stamp duty on my sale it will cost me £14000. The stamp duty on my purchase is 'only' £5000.

    I think they should scrap it altogether except for people buying a second property.
    "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,293 Forumite
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    Yorkshireman79 wrote: »
    Hi,
    Anyone else in a similar position and considering next steps?

    We are probably 2 weeks from exchange. Our Buyers want to be in asap so I dont want to hold them up so would consider rented. The house we are buying would cost us 8.5k in SD so a considerable saving if there are changes to stamp duty next 4-8 weeks.

    Ridiculous that ministers are discussing this publicly and adding unnecessary question marks over SD.

    If you are not sure then don't keep your buyers hanging about. Withdraw your house from the market and wait until there are conditions that you like before marketing again.

    Don't string people along because of your indecisiveness. It's not fair on them to be lumbered with a ditherer.
  • Surrey_EA
    Surrey_EA Posts: 2,042 Forumite
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    pimento wrote: »

    I think they should scrap it altogether except for people buying a second property.

    It's a nice idea, but the £9/10 billion that stamp duty brings in will then have to come from somewhere else.
  • Faith1960
    Faith1960 Posts: 20 Forumite
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    I agree, I just wish they would keep quiet until they know exactly if and how they are going to change the SD and then tell us. We are in the process of selling our house and downsizing and if that change does come in would mean us paying the £21,500 stamp duty. Like others have said, we already paid stamp duty when we bought the house so this would feel like a double whammy for us. The reason we are downsizing is because we want to move to Spain so just want a bolt hole in this country to come back to. Now in Spain both sellers and buyers pay the property tax when selling and buying and we have been told to add 13% to the price of any property (and which covers the property tax and all legal expenses etc). On a £250k to £300k property that is no small sum.

    I would quite happily split the stamp duty between buyer and seller and would consider that a much fairer way to proceed than simply switching the onus from one side to the other.
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,235 Forumite
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    https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/economy/news/105966/sajid-javid-floats-stamp-duty-shake-could-see-sellers-pay

    Yeah that's gonna fly.
    It's another Tory 'Dementia Tax' moment, Conservative turkeys planning a happy Xmas for themselves at the upcoming GE.

    Middle classes will be frothing at this one. Downsizing? Big loss. Emigrating? Big loss.
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,235 Forumite
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    Surrey_EA wrote: »
    It's a nice idea, but the £9/10 billion that stamp duty brings in will then have to come from somewhere else.
    I think it should be a flat 1% no ifs buts special exceptions. The missing £BNs will be easily made up by the economic uptick it'll allow. House transactions will probably double. Workers move house for a new job, higher productivity. Commuters swap house to be nearer work - environmental win, higher productivity, easier childcare. Elderly will finally decide to downsize, ease housing shortage.
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