Effects of Stamp Duty thresholds?

[IvyBeagle]

How much of an effect do you think the Stamp Duty thresholds have?

We have seen a property we like but its just over the 250 threshold. Do they expect people to offer just under or pay the extra 2%. As a seller what would you be thinking?

If its literally just over the £250k threshold (eg £260K) then I'd hazard a guess that they must be expecting / wanting offers just under the £250k threshold. However, if its more like £275k, I would imagine they're looking for offers over the threshold... how much over is it out of interest?

The house we're buying went on the market at £265,000. We put an offer in at £249,999 and the vendor flatly refused (he had previously refused an offer of this amount).

Our original limit was £250,000, but we were so sure of this house (great for us as a family, but when it's just us, accommodation is very flexible for living downstairs, so could be a home for life. Also, close to all local services, friends and it's in an area we love) . Given that it could be a home for life, we decided to put an extra £10,000 into the pot (to cover stamp duty) and offered £254,000. Vendor came back and said it was ours for £255,000.

We are lucky in that the property is in immaculate condition, nothing needs to be done other than a new shed, cat flap and changing the garden, so we didn't have to budget for major changes in the first couple of years.

I think if you have a property close to the stamp duty threshold, then people are going to try and offer immediately below the threshold. We didn't like the thought of paying all that extra tax, but also it impacted on us greatly as we had to pay £5,000 we hadn't budgeted for.

Isn't the stamp duty relating to the value of the property, so if you are also buying the fixtures and fittings (carpeting/curtains/light fittings/shed), could you pay for them separately. Not sure whether this is possible, but it might be worth checking the position with your solicitor.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Its 275, so they are probably thinking its far enough over. I think we may have to pay the tax!

Solicitors don't like the evading Stamp Duty thing, very not keen!

I think it also depends where it is i.e. in London where there are a lot of buyer's competing for properties, some people will offer £255k to secure a property regardless of the higher stamp duty.

And yes, that "fixtures and fittings" thing is not a good idea where you are buying at the stamp duty threshold, HMRC will look at those transactions very closely to make sure you are not trying to evade stamp duty and your solicitor is unlikely to agree to it anyway.