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%?

If you're keeping a share of the first house then of course the second house is a second property.

If Sam and Alex own a 50 % share of two properties that's not one each is it?

Is this a joke? For fuck sake.

You can avoid it by not owning more houses than you can actually live in - one.

You will both, literally, own half of a second home.

its interesting how you seem to acknowledge the rules, but just don’t want them to apply to you….

Then clearly it is a second home and exactly what the additional stamp duty is designed for 🙄

Is your ex telling you this is a good idea?

I think you should get legal advice, not on tax evasion but the whole owning 50% of two houses each thing. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

Yes most people would want to get out of owning a home with an ex, not add another jointly owned house!

I'd say it's clearly a joke to reflect the fact that the OP is so far off the mark it's ridiculous

This sounds a very complex and expensive arrangement. Do you really both want your ex to own half your home? So many additional things to worry about (what if they want to sell, what if they go bankrupt, what if you want to borrow against the property, what if one of you dies etc etc) plus extra stamp duty, plus capital gains tax on sale. Unless you have a very good reason to do it, it's completely crackers.

We will just own half of the two properties each though so not really what the law is intended to cover

For every couple who own a primary residence and a second home, each person will most likely own half of each home. It's exactly what the law is intended to cover- the fact he's your ex makes no difference. You could of course each own 100% of one house without paying the additional rate or any CGT.

I don't think you have split up at all. I think this is a classic case where you are trying to find a way around the law to own two properties and you are pretending you have slit up. You aren't the first, you won't be the last, and yes, you need to pay the second home extras or commit fraud.

You can put one in (ex) DPs name and one in your name, but you will need to prove you live there via all your utility bills and so on.

And if he loses his job you'd be OK with paying two mortgages? Half of the one you live in and all of the one you don't? Because that's your responsibility

There is only one way to avoid it, and that is to buy 7 properties at once- this is how the MP's who imposed this extra stamp duty do it (Jeremy Hunt specifically), they build a loophole in- it may not still be open.
I have no idea why Angela Rayner managed to avoid it, because when I was in this position it was the very first thing my solicitor told me- that I had to pay it. The only way I could avoid it is to stop having an interest in my first home- even then you have to pay it and you wait 6 months to a year and they check and you get it refunded, maybe.

It’s very dodgy for a UK resident to buy a home and try to avoid stamp duty. You could end up not legally owning your own home. That’s why it simply isn’t tried. I really wouldn’t bother considering this op.

I think what you are proposing would require you to pay the 2nd home tax, which ever house you proposed to buy. Can I ask why you wouldn't do a clean property split and save yourself the stamp duty.

Out of interest, why do you think this is different to a married couple each owning 50% of the marital home and 50% each of a holiday home?

You can't avoid the second home rate if you're buying a second home. Which you are. The issue is that you can't really afford it. So you'll have to rethink your plan to co-own two homes rather than try and avoid paying legal tax.

Have you considered the capital gains tax implications of jointly owning a property you don't live in?

This sounds inconvenient and expensive

And it will cause a lot of issues down the line

Much easier if you both just own one and then you’ll only have to pay normal stamp duty.
I don’t understand why you would want to set it up the way you have

I also suspect this is the case. In fact I know someone who has done exactly this.

Of course not, that would be evasion

Madness 🫣
Have a listen to yourself OP.

(I also don't think its true you've split and you've gotten the opportunity to buy your rental)

Actually, if the two of you both own two properties you’ve still got to pay stamp duty because it’s a joint property and it’s a second property

None of this makes sense

So it will be a second home then. You can't have it both ways!

Because they are different values so this is just simpler than trying to ascertain the value of the unique existing property.

Jeremy Hunt had a limited company which bought seven investment properties as a business. The rule still exists but it doesn't apply to a company holding property which the shareholders then live in- that's always been the case and is an anti-avoidance measure.

Angela Rayner didn't avoid it- she's paid the additional rate now (and her situation was about property held on trust for a disabled minor so nothing like OP). She avoided paying penalties on top of the additional rate stamp duty because HMRC found she had not been careless in making the error.