Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

I am a first time buyer but need to pay stamp duty - can't believe it's so high

91 replies

HibiscusPurple · 17/01/2021 11:34

I am a first time buyer and will be buying a property independently. But, because I am married to someone who bought a property years before we met, I have to pay stamp duty.

Let's assume the stamp duty holiday is not extended past March and that I buy a house for £250,000.

Am I right in thinking stamp duty payable is 12,500? Shock

Do you have to pay this in one go or can you spread it out?

OP posts:
Spinner12345 · 17/01/2021 13:28

[quote flashbac]@Spinner12345
Do you mean unmarried couples are also liable if one half already has a property and the other buys one?[/quote]
Yes but only if both partners are going to be on the title of the new property. If OP wasn’t married she could buy independently and her partner’s property wouldn’t matter

RandomGrammarPun · 17/01/2021 13:30

I think your dh needs to force the sale of the other property.

He is basically liable for something he hasn't benefitted from for years, ie if the other bloke stops paying the mortgage, he would have to step in and pay it. Could he afford to? As well as the fact it's going to cost you a load more money to buy a house together.

The other bloke can't force him to be in a financial relationship he doesn't want to be in.

Butterymuffin · 17/01/2021 13:36

How was your husband ever planning to solve this problem with the other house? Just wait out the rest of the 25 year term of the mortgage? What would happen if the other bloke suddenly died (with Covid so prevalent it's a possibility) or if your husband did?

iwishiwasatcentralperk · 17/01/2021 13:46

Sorry but YABU OP, the law applies to everyone not just you. As a couple you are not FTB.

The main problem here is your DH in not solving the problem with the other house. By doing that guy a favour, it will cost you thousands of pounds. He needs to force a sale and ensure that the other guy is treated fairly with the proceeds if DH has not paid into the mortgage for years.

Or he can carry on ignoring it, and pay huge Stamp Duty because he won't do anything about it.

suggestionsplease1 · 17/01/2021 13:53

Your DH and his friend need to find a way to get your DH off the mortgage and deeds by the sounds of it. If this friend's income isn't enough to satisfy mortgage lender could he take a lodger that would increase his income to the required multiples amount and/or increase the term of the mortgage to lower the monthly repayments?

Your DH probably needs to sit down with this old friend and go through the options or otherwise he will have to force a sale.

Ideasplease322 · 17/01/2021 14:08

I would be concerned that affordability remains a problem for his friend after more that an a decade.

Why is that? Is the mortgage interest only? Has more been borrowed against the house over the years? Has the friend lost his job During this period, or encountered other financial difficulties.

Yohoheaveho · 17/01/2021 14:10

If you are married you are considered a financial unit with that person therefore you're not buying independently!
It's to stop people using property as a vehicle in which to park money and thereby artificially inflating the price of property

Balloondog · 17/01/2021 14:10

OP it's all explained here in terms of legalities. What no one except you and your DH can do is sort out the situation with the person on the original mortgage. If he's not cooperating the. Your DH needs to force a sale.
https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/save-stamp-duty-purchasing-new-home-wife-husband-married-couple-827077?utmsource=Money+to+the+Masses&utmmcampaign=e832e70b11-9thNovemberr2014NewsletterrCOPY01&utmmmedium=email&utmterm=00_f4fb6a75ef-e832e70b11-353198805

wibblewombat · 17/01/2021 14:15

I'd also be checking the mortgage payments are paying down the mortgage (repayment mortgage), as otherwise the lump sum is due at the end of the term (interest-only, so lower monthly payments).

Your husband might be pursued for any shortfall if the house is sold and doesn't meet the mortgage amount outstanding...

Xenia · 17/01/2021 14:34

On the first page of the thread is a quote/picture which is very important. Even some property advisers have been getting things wrong and saying the extra 3% is due in some cases when it is not. Do check. Speak to a solicitor and an accountant and check and check and check again as a lot of people are over paying and it is a very complicated set of rules nowadays.

Treacletoots · 17/01/2021 16:40

@DreamingofItaly not quite. Those rules apply if you're 'replacing your main residence'

Unfortunately OP isn't replacing her main residence. This tax is quite simply the most nonsensical and unfair I've seen in a long time, and all because the government think landlords are an easy cash cow, without thinking through all the circumstances this might also apply.

BackwardsGoing · 17/01/2021 17:34

This tax is quite simply the most nonsensical and unfair I've seen in a long time, and all because the government think landlords are an easy cash cow, without thinking through all the circumstances this might also apply.

All taxation is a blunt instrument. LL taxation is popular because we have a shortage of affordable housing and the property investment market was contributing to that.

I'm a LL btw. Recent tax changes have made it less profitable and hence I'm selling up. So the tactic is working Smile

OP has a flakey DH who hasn't got the balls to reclaim his property. There isn't a tax regime in existence that accounts for this circumstances.

RaggedR0b1n · 17/01/2021 18:54

Your DH is definitely not a first time buyer

He would need to pay stamp duty on the new property

Because he will be on the deeds of 2 mortgable properties

Or

He sorts his situation out with the old property, then buys with you

His responsibility

Original poster
HibiscusPurple · 17/01/2021 19:18

@RaggedR0b1n

Your DH is definitely not a first time buyer

He would need to pay stamp duty on the new property

Because he will be on the deeds of 2 mortgable properties

Or

He sorts his situation out with the old property, then buys with you

His responsibility

He won't be on the deeds of my property.

In fact, he has to sign a letter to say he has no claim on the property.

OP posts:
Original poster
HibiscusPurple · 17/01/2021 19:20

DH isn't actually flaky, he made a crap decision while he was young, but I hope it makes you feel better by saying so.

We have tried again and again to get this bloke off the mortgage, but it's not possible.

The other man doesn't want to sell. We don't particularly want to spend thousands on forcing a sale. It would have to go to court in order to force a sale and I/we don't want that stress and expense.

OP posts:
BackwardsGoing · 17/01/2021 19:28

The other man doesn't want to sell. We don't particularly want to spend thousands on forcing a sale. It would have to go to court in order to force a sale and I/we don't want that stress and expense.

This is so naive and short-sighted. It's going to cost you £££s in stamp duty for every purchase for the rest of your life. Plus all the liabilities mentioned upthread.

It doesn't "make me feel good" to say this. Believe it or not we're trying to help you!

titchy · 17/01/2021 19:28

@HibiscusPurple

DH isn't actually flaky, he made a crap decision while he was young, but I hope it makes you feel better by saying so.

We have tried again and again to get this bloke off the mortgage, but it's not possible.

The other man doesn't want to sell. We don't particularly want to spend thousands on forcing a sale. It would have to go to court in order to force a sale and I/we don't want that stress and expense.

Well be honest - he is being a bit flaky isn't he? You say you don't want the cost of a possession order, but it's costing you significantly more in stamp duty now isn't it?

And if the friend loses his job and defaults on the mortgage the mortgage company can come after your dh for the lot. Try getting a mortgage with a bankrupt husband!

Maybe you should both move into his house? At the least he could get a lodger, start paying half the mortgage, and then he'd get some of the equity if it ever gets sold.

burnoutbabe · 17/01/2021 19:41

Move back into property he owns.

It then becomes his principal residence .

Then buy new place after a year. You then do pay double stamp duty but it's refunded when you dispose of first place. And gives you an incentive to get property 1 sold.

Court case should be fairly simple to solve. Assuming no vulnerable child lives there and person 2 can't buy 1 out, it will be ordered to be sold. Not very complicated.

Pleaseaddcaffine · 17/01/2021 19:53

Actually good idea... Move into the first house. Then push the sale

Ideasplease322 · 17/01/2021 20:23

But surely it would only cost a couple of thousand for force the sale? Maybe Absolute max £5k.

Worth it surely?

ForensicAccountant · 17/01/2021 21:02

One thing that is not clear OP, what are your and your husband’s current living arrangements? Are you renting? While some bloke lives in your husband’s house?

MyGazeboisLeaking · 18/01/2021 07:48

For all those saying 'force the sale', I can see how that's really, really difficult

The guy on the mortgage has lived there 10+ years. It's his home. By the sounds of it, he would struggle to get a mortgage for a home, and OP says there is no equity in the house.

You can see how OP's DH is stuck... you'd have to be really quite heartless to force a sale in these circumstances.

OP - can you ask DH's friend for contribution any additional costs you incur?

burnoutbabe · 18/01/2021 08:11

@MyGazeboisLeaking

For all those saying 'force the sale', I can see how that's really, really difficult

The guy on the mortgage has lived there 10+ years. It's his home. By the sounds of it, he would struggle to get a mortgage for a home, and OP says there is no equity in the house.

You can see how OP's DH is stuck... you'd have to be really quite heartless to force a sale in these circumstances.

OP - can you ask DH's friend for contribution any additional costs you incur?

But it needs doing sometime. Husband now can't get a mortgage? Or is the plan to let him live there until he dies?

May as well force the same now as in 10 years time.

Countmeout · 18/01/2021 08:21

If the other property is sold with three years I believe, the difference is refunded.

SavoyCabbage · 18/01/2021 08:25

What's your dh's plan in the long run? Just wait till the mortgage is paid off? What if you want to move again? You will have to pay more stamp duty every time.

Paying £12500 just so your dh doesn't have to rock the apple cart seems daft to me.

I understand this man does pay the mortgage but if he can't afford on paper he needs to sell it or get a mortgage with a family member or a different friends.