To ask seller to reduce asking price due to stamp duty increase

[Ouch12]

Hello,
I am on the deeds for my parents house. They couldn't qualify for a mortgage as they were too old, so I was added to the mortgage.

I am now buying a house for myself - purchase has been ongoing for 2 months.

However, my can't buy me out from their current home - they just don't have the money.

In the Budget stamp duty on 2nd homes increased for 3% to 5%. This means I will need to find an additional £10k for stamp duty, which I don't have.
I will try to increase the mortgage amount to cover the extra £10kz

If the bank don't, I don't know how I will be able to afford the additional £10k. My parents are already gifting me money, so I cannot ask them any more.

Worst case, I might ask the seller to reduce the price by £3k -£5k but I'd imagine they'd be pissed.

Would you be willing to reduce the price if you were selling.

Could your parents enter into an equity release to buy you out?

Or yes, a loan against your equity to cover it.

I didn't think the increase applied until April next year.

I owned a house in 2022 which I lived in, I was buying a new build house, so to simplify things I bought that first. I had to pay the extra stamp duty. Confirmed by both my solicitor and land reg. it was either different then or it was because you’d never lived in mil house. But she can’t simply say it’s her main residence now, that’s the whole point of it being a 2nd home!

Don’t listen to idiots on here, your solicitors are the people who know the law and they will tell you, you have to pay it!

You can ask, but I don't see any reason why they would say yes.
As helping your parents out is what has caused the problem I would raise the money as a loan against the property your parents are living in-it's your property really, after all- they will have to bear the extra loan burden, it's only fair.

Well I didn’t listen to my solicitor as they gave me incorrect advice. I had to show them the wording in my situation. So please don’t call me an idiot. If I had listened to my solicitor I would have paid for stamp duty I didn’t owe. I think it’s worth questioning.

You should never have been on your parents home to begin with. Save more money before buying a second place for you to live in yourself. OMG.

You will be liable for the higher rate stamp duty, the posters saying you won't be liable are incorrect.

Whether one, both or neither properties are your main residence makes no difference whatsoever.

Why are you still on the parent’s house. Can’t you quit the ownership? Or do they have years left to pay it off?

Why don’t you remove yourself from the deeds and transform your equity into a loan payable on sale or death like the equity release firms?

I’m not getting the bit about not having to pay the 5percent.

We bought a house, and paid stamp duty. We bought another house and paid the higher rate of duty,and I believe had we have sold the first home within a certain timeframe - we can get a refund

The time frame for a refund is 3 years, but in certain circumstances it can be longer.

I wouldn't have agreed to be on a mortgage that wasn't my own. I'd be asking your parents to help.

My husband was named on a property for his family (let's call it property A) but moved and lived with me after we married (property B).

We lived in property B together for 5 years, I then sold that house and we purchased another house, property C, with both our names on the mortgage and deeds. We have been in this house for 4 years and his name is still on the mortgage and deeds for property A.

We still paid the normal stamp duty rates because his main residence was in the new property.

I remember being very worried about the extra rate but my friend is a conveyancing solicitor and informed about the main residence aspect while I made sure my solicitors were aware of from the beginning.

You have been incorrectly advised.

@TigerSteak so you're saying two solicitors that do not work together advised me incorrectly and i went on to be undercharged?

If you're in England and purchased a residential property recently, yes they were wrong.

The liability is with you to pay the correct amount, conveyancing solicitors can advise and give you their interpretation but the fact stands that if you or your husband are named on another property worth over £40k and do not sell that property within 3 years of your new purchase, you are liable to pay the higher rate.

Replacing or creating a 'Main residence' is not a exemption criteria on its own merit, only when combined with a sold property:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-buying-an-additional-residential-property

Interesting.

What if you're a landlord and go onto buy your first main home, which rules apply in that scenario, out of curiosity..?

I agree with @TigerSteak People are forgetting ‘disposal of main residence’ aspect is required to avoid the SDLT surcharge. This means you avoid the surcharge ONLY if you replace your main residence with another property on the same day.

If you own a rental property and then buy a main residence, you still pay the additional property surcharge.

If you are named as an owner on a residential property and purchase another residential property, the number of properties you own increases from 1 to 2 and so you are liable for the higher rate. The first property's occupancy as tenanted, vacant or as a main residence is irrelevant.

The only exception is when you are selling a property that is your main residence and purchasing another to replace it as your main residence.

This is correct.

So basically, you want to ask complete strangers to fund your house purchase? Because that's what you would be doing! You will be asking complete strangers to pay for you to have the privilege to own two houses. Good luck with that....

Not sure why this topic is consuming me, finding it interesting.

Don't think it will help OP but May do others:

www.blakemorgan.co.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax-3-surcharge-replacement-of-only-or-main-residence-and-the-three-year-rules/

Different scenarios set out here where the 3% surcharge does not have to be applicable so makes sense for what my scenario was.

All of the cases exempt from the higher rate satisfied the conditions, ie the disposal of a main residence.

your circumstances are very different and your advice unreliable as your post clearly shows you do not understand the processes in play and therefore what rules apply in what circumstances.