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%?

Thanks, much appreciated. Is it correct that we would only pay CGT on the profit from selling the existing rental when we sold it and that we could include all the purchase costs including the stamp duty and legal costs when calculating if CGT is due?

You can't get out of this. We tried to sell our house a couple of years ago and it was a nightmare, the market was dead. We eventually ended up in a chain that finally collapsed just before Christmas. We just couldn't go through all that again so we took out a mortgage, bought our new home and rented out our old home - it rented out without any issues.

We paid a fuck ton of SDLT because we were buying a 'second home' even though it wasn't our fault that we couldn't sell our old house and the rent only covers half the mortgage on the new house. We paid it because that's the law. We are currently trying to decide whether to try to sell the old house before the 36 month deadline. The good news is that we have moved and we love the new home.

He’s not your ex, is he?

The poster they quoted.

Then you can't avoid it can you? Only way would be to divorce before buying I should imagine.

He likes it there though

You can’t deduct stamp duty but you can deduct legal and conveyancing costs and improvement costs (property tax isn’t my speciality by the way so please seek proper advice!).

And yes, CGT is only on the profit. Do bear in mind CGT applies on any disposal, including a gift. So if you aren’t married and one of you transfers your share to the other, that transfer could be subject to CGT even though no money as changed hands. Again, please do seek specific advice.

Well then he’ll have to find the money eg take out a mortgage to buy you out, or sell up. His choice.

My friends went through something similar, their London flat was impossible to sell due to cladding issues and they had a growing family. So they had to just eat the extra tax in order to get into a larger house. I believe they still own that flat.

You’re going to pay a fortune in CGT. That will exceed the stamp duty.

Plus, if he marries or dies you’re fucked.

Pay to see a proper solicitor.

You're in a spiky mood for sure. Is the property Wuthering Heights?

Cold Comfort Farm.

Do you always bend to his likes and wants?

Also to be clear, this isn’t a straightforward situation and there are various options. I really would urge you to spend the money on a proper tax report from an accountant or solicitor so that you are fully informed and don’t fall into any nasty traps. The most money I make in practice is when people don’t get initial advice and then have to pay me a fortune to unwind the mistake. Here I don’t think you’ll necessarily have anything to unwind per se but you may end up regretting your action if you had been better informed at the outset.

You know, I couldn't get into that even with the funny bits. It's still on the shelf, maybe I'll try again.

Google AI seems to think that the purchase stamp duty can be offset against the sale price when we sell for CGT purposes but it wouldn’t be the first time AI talks crap.

Thanks for the warning about CGT on transferring ownership too

Thanks for confirming that there’s no way to avoid the higher stamp duty in our situation.

"Hardworking decent folk" with a marital house worth several million and able to buy a second property without a mortgage???

But that appears to be the main reason you are in a rental after splitting 5+ years ago.

In the nicest possible way, who cares where he likes living? He stopped being your concern when you split.

Can you explain to any of us why you wish to own property with your ex, 5 years after splitting? Other than that he likes living there...

Never

How do you think we got the cash to do that? It wasn’t delivered by fairies, we worked for it.

And those were hypothetical values to explain why he couldn’t buy me out but he could pay half of the new property

Gonna be real hard to avoid that second home tax while owning two homes

and this is why Estate Agents have to comply with AML laws and get ID from everyone .....

A lot of people with that level of wealth are born rich. Not earned.

If you're cash buyers, why can't he just buy you out? Or get a mortgage for the difference.

And avoiding the stamp duty on your second, bought for cash, home, calling it a 'killer' is something. It will make people feel a certain way about you trying to avoid it.

As I said the house values were only to demonstrate the point. We earned the assets we have ourselves but they aren’t those values

Sigh, I’ve explained already that he can’t buy me out and he doesn’t want a mortgage