To ask how to avoid 2nd home rate stamp duty

[Stampdutywoes]

Hear me out before you attack.

Currently living in rental property after splitting with ex partner. We own the home he is living in jointly.
The landlord of my rental wants to sell and I would like to buy it but the additional 5% stamp duty rate for what would count as a second home is a killer.
Are there any conveyancing solicitors who could advise on how to avoid (not evade) this extra 5%?

How are you supposed to buy a home with a fake name? There are lol kinds of money laundering checks that have to be done.

The title is wrong. It’s evasion. Or would be if you managed to get away with it. Fortunately that’s highly unlikely.

Nonsense. Maybe at least read my OP if not any other posts before spouting off.
Copied here for your convenience:

Hear me out before you attack.
Currently living in rental property after splitting with ex partner. We own the home he is living in jointly.
The landlord of my rental wants to sell and I would like to buy it but the additional 5% stamp duty rate for what would count as a second home is a killer.
Are there any conveyancing solicitors who could advise on how to avoid (not evade) this extra 5%?

Disposed of yes, and the longer it is until that happens, the greater the CGT issue. Under current tax legislation you don't pay CGT on your principal residence.

Of course if the property is kept until death there might not be an issue. Although if he died and left you his half and you sold, you would still have a CGT issue.

Only pointing it out as it is worth understanding.

Isn’t it based on residency, not ownership? As you will own and have full time residency in the new house, and he will own and have full time residency in the original, you would each be responsible for council tax in the home you live in?

Google says the below - but I would get proper advice;

For council tax purposes, a property is only classified as a second home if it is furnished and nobody uses it as their sole or main residence. Because both properties are actively being lived in full-time as a primary home by a real person, neither house is a second home.
Instead of a second home premium, both individuals will likely qualify for a 25% single person discounton their respective properties, assuming no other adults live with them.

Thanks, that is important.

It should apply to those wealthy holiday home owners, not hardworking decent folk like us

You've got some neck making 'woe is me' statements like that, OP, I'll give you that.

You have plenty of options:

1. He gets a mortgage and buys you out
2. You force a sale
3. You buy a second property, retain your share in the first and pay stamp duty.

You just don't happen to LIKE any of your options. The State isn't doing anything to you.

To be fair, that comment was rather tongue in cheek. I was pleased when the extra stamp duty for holiday homes was introduced but I didn’t think it would ever affect the common folk like me.

As another poster said, ISAs etc are a world of difference. But yes, if you're looking for ways to avoid inheritance tax, you definitely don't have a conscience! Only the privileged pay inheritance tax. You're pretty low if you're avoiding it.

It’s exactly the same, they are all vehicles for reducing tax liability.

If you intend to own 2 houses you have to pay the extra tax.

if you intend to own 1 house, you pay the extra tax and get a refund when you “dispose” of your interest in the second - as long as it is within a certain timeframe.

I really is that simple. It is a case where owning 2 halves of a house doesn’t equal one house.

The additional rate for a second home is such a farce. With separations and divorce being so commonplace now, it prevents so many families from being able to move on with their lives. This is especially true in the current market where everyone is paying out the nose for bills and interest rate rises, and now nobody can afford to live in their own homes. Instead you're stuck paying someone else's mortgage in rent, or putting it into the pocket of a landlord.

I don't understand why everyone seems to be giving you such a hard time over this.

Thank you!

But you can claim it back when you dispose of your interest in the principal home. Given clean breaks are recommended following the breakdown of marriages this is what happens in the majority of cases.

Its just in this case the Op is keen to remain joint owners of 2 different properties with her Ex partner. That isn't the norm.

Obviously not “that simple” as you have the facts wrong.
You can’t get a refund if you dispose of the second property at any time, only if you dispose of the first property within three years of the purchase of the second.

In an earlier post you asked how half ownership of two properties was any different to each of you owning one. I think the quoted post illustrates how it's different.

If you each owned separately then you would apparently be happy to own an £800k flat, and your ex could only afford somewhere above £400k but less than £1 million.

So, if you were to own one property each you'd own property worth £1.2m to £1.8m between you. By owning two properties jointly you will, taking your story at face value, end up owning property worth £2.8 million between you.

The difference between half ownership of two properties and each owning one is apparently that you will have assets worth an extra £1m to £1.6m. A bit of a difference.

@Stampdutywoes ,

Given the sums you are talking about and the inefficiency of the arrangement you want to make, is £40k extra stamp duty really such a killer?

(by the way, I do think high stamp duty is a terrible tax, but replacing it with a sensible progressive property tax, which would be far better economically, you probably wouldn’t like either).

One additional cost you may well incur by doing this, is that many local councils are charging double rates for second homes, and some are even threatening treble or quadruple rates, to drive second home owners out. I have one friend in the Highlands and one in London who have sold their properties because of this. It's worth considering, along with your stamp duty problem.

You’d agree to get a valuation by a RICS Chartered Surveyor https://www.rics.org/profession-standards/rics-standards-and-guidance/sector-standards/valuation-standards/residential-valuations
not an estate agent. That’s how properties are valued for probate / division of marital assets etc.

Isn't this for unoccupied properties?

You think ‘decent hardworking” people should be able to avoid paying tax?

If you'll own half each - then why can't one of you own one and the other the other?

Obviously op isn't separating at all. Just trying to evade playing by the same rules as everyone else.

No, it's for second, furnished homes occupied for at least 25 days per year.. English Councils can add a discretionary premium of up to 100% (a 200% total bill) after giving 12 months' published notice. Many local authorities have adopted this charge. Scotland and Wales can charge up to 300% extra. If it hasn't hit your area yet, it almost certainly will in future.

You can own a house without being on the council tax bill though
.i own a share of a house that a relative lives in. That relative pays all the bills