Stamp Duty on second homes?!

[Anovelsolution]

Not sure if this is the right place but looking for some help in understanding the new stamp duty rules.

Dp and I own 1 property each in our own names. Dp's property is let and we live in my property. We are looking to sell my property and purchase a new property together where we will live (I am now on maternity leave so am unable to get a mortgage in my sole name). This transaction will attract the higher rate stamp duty due to dp now having 2 properties. Is this right?

My understanding is that if we were married we would be treated as a single unit regardless of whose name is on the deeds and if we were to sell our main residence (my property) and purchase a new one (jointly) we would not have to pay the higher rate of stamp duty. Can anyone advise if I have interpreted this correctly?

It could save us £6k which I would rather spend getting married than give to the tax man!!!

You may be best to ring your conveyancing solicitor on Monday to check. They can log into the land registry now to check pre completion stamp duty. I suspect that married or not if your partner owns another property then if you buy together then you will be penalised. It's awful .... We've just had to stomach a stamp duty second home bill as our purchase didn't go through before end of March

Thanks Luc I'm sorry to hear that you've been stung. It's just such a big amount and I feel slightly angered by the fact we didn't want to move but have just had planning permission rejected (after we had paid for architect plans and building regs) and now have little option

I've had a good look through the consultation document and it seems that in almost every scenario the tax man wins!!

We've got a solicitor looking into it for us but because it is less than 3 weeks into the new rules no one seems to know how they are applied. The assumption seems to be that they apply in every purchase where a second home exists but this is not what the consultation document says

I wouldn't think that it applies you are selling your (&your dps) principle private residence and buying another main residence so it wouldnt apply.

Thanks sootica paragraph 3, sub-paragraph 6 suggests that if we were married both properties would be treated as 'ours' and therefore selling our main residence and purchasing a replacement would not attract the higher rate tax?

I'm not sure dp is over keen on getting married but df drilled into me as a child not to pay the tax man a penny more than necessary and I like to ensure that I understand my position when it comes to taxation.