AIBU to pull out of house purchase at the 11th hour due to reeves

[BeGreatSheep]

We can due to exchange next week and I’m really considering pulling out given the general mess of the UK economy and the potential extra tax that have been suggested. Am I be ridiculous? Husband is team buy.

Not ridiculous but overly anxious. If you love the house, can afford it and are planning to stay for a significant time then go for it.

Honestly if you are that tight to the wire that anything Reeves has in store is a deal breaker, you probably already can’t afford it

How much flex is in your budget

Are you a Tory ?

Madness. Utter and complete madness.

Pulling out last minute due to suggested future tax changes? Is the poor economy totally new information to you or something?

I’m am over anxious. Especially around money (v low income childhood) so I suppose I’m scared. I’m in therapy.

I don’t think having doubts is madness at all. In general, it’s very unlikely that any changes would come in suddenly, so if you love the place and are planning to stay for a few years, then I would say, crack on and move.
However, there is a risk that she will get rid of stamp duty and you will have paid it for no reason. It’s very unlikely that this would be introduced before next financial year though so if you love the property and just want to get on with things, I would just move.

What I will say is it’s unlikely that any changes will result in people paying less tax as the whole point of any changes is to raise money.

I feel for you though - but you have to live your life.

not really, I think they all screw us over one way or another. I try not to follow politics. In fact it was the Mumsnet thread that draw my attention to the new plans.

I remember being so anxious buying my first house because of the huge financial commitment. Within a year or so my mortgage provider went pop, my job was at risk and we went through some lean times.

But I had 15 happy years in that house and I made a lot of money.

House buying is a long game. Your mortgage may increase but in the long term it will reduce

What is the plan if you pull out?

You can't solve for future government economic policy now (I'm thinking of my own personal circumstance and Liz Truss!).If you have stress tested your mortgage payments and can afford it the I wouldn't pull out.

I honestly thought “Reeves” was some sort of beastie infestation

Yes unreasonable

So you don’t follow it, you read it on mumsnet and you are in therapy… surely you can see YWBU to pull out?

So what specifically is worrying you about buying this house?

If I had that level of logic I wouldn’t need the therapy 😂

You are not wrong to worry, OP.

The brainless Labour fangirls will try and tell you everything is hunky dory, because they can’t bring themselves to admit that Labour are f’ing the country up, even more than Tories did.

Often mortgages are cheaper than rent so would it help your finances?

if you start to struggle, you go to the bank you have your mortgage with and they’d normally help work out a payment plan

worst case scenario you have to sell up but I think you will regret it if you pull out unless you have completely over stretched yourself that you’ve not accounted for any interest rate rises or anything in which case consider buying smaller/cheaper but dont not buy, that is your future security

I’m am very good at having 100 scenarios go through my head with no basis. We’ll lose our jobs, the market will crash, we won’t be able to sell etc etc.

I think I needed strangers to tell me I’m unreasonable.

There's always something looming that causes people to worry that buying now might not be the right time. Sometimes the threat is imminent and solid (the day before the Brexit referendum), sometimes it is one of several policy options being considered and won't ever see the light of day.

I'm with your husband.

Beastie 😂😂😂😂 love that word (I’m a Scot too)

You're not being over cautious OP. I'm in similar position. Im about to put a deposit down on a new build. Its not been possible this weekend due to technical issues on their part. The house i want is just over 500k. Exchange is scheduled a week before the autumn statement.

I dont want to enter into a legal agreement not knowing my tax liabilities going forward. But I also understand that they'll have to taper/phase in any changes so I'll probably be ok and not be stung twice - stamp duty and house tax. But theres no guarantees and this is a big move for me into a dream home.

When anyone moves house its an expensive event with a lot of upfront costs. Then theres an adjustment period of getting used to new financial obligations/bills. To not be factoring in potential changes would be reckless. Ignore those who say you're overly anxious, they are judging the situation hypothetically because they are not in your shoes right now in real life dealing with it and the long term potential consequences.

You can only deal with facts as you know it. Gather them all together, take advice and views of others and make a fact based decision.

For you, the facts are nothing has been announced or agreed. Nothing is in place that is new that is known to affect you. Big changines are usually phased.

For me completion would be end of next year on my new build and its over 500k, so I'm looking like I'll be caught in middle of it. I'm thinking of not agreeing to exchange until I know the tax liabilities. I don't want to pay the massive stamp duty I'm facing plus an annual house tax.

Good luck OP.

If money is going to be very tight and you are stretched to the limit then pull out. If not go-ahead If you love the house.

To be fair you're not wrong.

You have to live somewhere for the next 10/20/30 plus years.

I bought my first house with a 100% mortgage, 15% mortgage rate and then straight into negative equity for the next 10 years.

But I sold it in yr 12 with a small profit and I had 12 years of living next door to the best neighbours ever. We had so much fun and laughter and I don’t care that people living down south made megabucks from their houses as I can look back and remember all the great times I had living there.

It’s not always about money!!