Rishi..... Will people who are buying a second property, be exempt from stamp duty?

Soldato
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I only own a flat worth about 65k... I'm trying to buy my home from my parents, but the stamp duty is so high as I own the flat.

I'm a stay at home dad... I'm not rich at all.

Hopefully I don't have to pay?
 
Caporegime
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I only own a flat worth about 65k... I'm trying to buy my home from my parents, but the stamp duty is so high as I own the flat.

I'm a stay at home dad... I'm not rich at all.

Hopefully I don't have to pay?

You presumably won't pay any standard rate stamp duty up to £500k but you'll still have to pay the appropriate second home rate.
 
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Caporegime
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For situations like yours there should be a workaround, but you'd be better off asking a professional.

I do think that an exemption on stamp duty for second properties would induce an amount of rage hitherto unseen, and rightfully so.
 
Soldato
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I only own a flat worth about 65k... I'm trying to buy my home from my parents, but the stamp duty is so high as I own the flat.

I'm a stay at home dad... I'm not rich at all.

Hopefully I don't have to pay?

As Dave says, sell the flat after your purchase to reclaim the SDLT.
 
Soldato
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If you buy a new main residence but there’s a delay in selling your previous main residence, you’ll have to pay the higher Stamp Duty rates as you’ll now own two properties.

However, if you sell or give away your previous main home within 3 years of buying your new home you can apply for a refund of the higher SDLT rate part of your Stamp Duty bill.

You can request a refund for the amount above the normal Stamp Duty rates if:

  • you sell your previous main residence within three years, and
  • you claim the refund within three months of the sale of your previous main residence, or within 12 months of the filing date of your SDLT tax return, whichever comes later.
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-stamp-duty

Is your 65k flat your current residence? If it's not and it's a rental which you will keep, then it's right that you pay the additional second home amount, even if you are an unrich stay at home Dad.
 
Soldato
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Buy the house, pay the stamp duty, then sell the flat(Within 2 years?) and claim the stamp duty back?

Exactly this. We did this last time we moved house. A redundancy payment put us in the lucky position of not needing to sell the old house in order to buy the new one. So we paid the horrific stamp duty, sold the old house at our leisure, and then applied for the refund so that overall we had only paid normal stamp duty levels.

Moving house and not having to have everything done on the same day was a delightful experience I have to say. So much less stressful, and nice to be able to paint a few rooms before the move too.

There was a slight worry about if the old house didn't sell. But it being unoccupied made it more attractive to buyers anyway, and it was gone within 2 months.
 
Associate
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Exactly this. We did this last time we moved house. A redundancy payment put us in the lucky position of not needing to sell the old house in order to buy the new one. So we paid the horrific stamp duty, sold the old house at our leisure, and then applied for the refund so that overall we had only paid normal stamp duty levels.

Moving house and not having to have everything done on the same day was a delightful experience I have to say. So much less stressful, and nice to be able to paint a few rooms before the move too.

There was a slight worry about if the old house didn't sell. But it being unoccupied made it more attractive to buyers anyway, and it was gone within 2 months.

Very interested in doing this myself. Just need to persuade the wife!
 
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