Stamp duty

[spm20]

My husband and I are buying a house together. I already own a buy-to-let flat, but my husband doesn’t own any property. We’ve found out he can get the mortgage on his own, which would save us £43,500 in stamp duty. However, since we’re married, would it be possible for us both to own our own properties and therefore avoid the second property stamp duty?

No. If you are married or in a civil partnership you’re essentially considered a single entity and the rule 'reads across' ownership between you and your spouse or civil partner: your husband has a legal interest in your property and isn’t considered a first time buyer. He’ll be asked to declare in writing whether he has an interest in another property. Usually when a married person is buying a property solely in their own name, the solicitor will specifically ask whether their spouse already owns or has owned property, they know some people do this to attempt to sneak around the law.

@ComtesseDeSpair thank you that's really helpful. We thought this maybe the case. I guess we will stick to our original plan with a joint mortgage and take the sting of the heavy stamp duty.

You could look into making a Declaration of Trust?

Nope - we sought specific tax advice on this (DH is self employed so mortgage is in my name alone as he can’t prove stable income). We even looked at putting our “other” house (BTL) into a company, and no there isn’t any way of doing it.