Buying next door to extend your house, and 2nd home SLDT

[MarillionFan]

£60k is high. I can show you former mining villages and elsewhere where you can buy properties for £25k - there is of course a reason for that - the places are utterly depressing...

and normally full of Welsh or Northeners

[eek]

Nope.

And £60k, wow. You could buy one up there every other month!

£60k is high. I can show you former mining villages and elsewhere where you can buy properties for £25k - there is of course a reason for that - the places are utterly depressing...

[The_Equalizer]

Such places still exist!

Quite a few round my neck of the woods. Rates on such places are £60/month and includes the water charge.

[The Only Way Is Keynsham]

It only seems fair that you'd get a refund once the place was registered as a single property.

Just as when you need to get a let to buy on your current property to fund the purchase of your next main residence, you get the surcharge back if you sell within 18 months.

Wouldn't surprise me if they hadn't thought of this particular use case though.

[blackeye]

Jesus £60k?!

400sq ft studios are going for £650k around here..

[d000hg]

Nope.

And £60k, wow. You could buy one up there every other month!

Such places still exist!

[Mordac]

For one not about me... A mate has a terraced house up here in Billy Elliot land. The one next door is empty and the owner has hinted he'd still for £60k or so so my mate is fairly seriously considering buying it and knocking the two together.

I was wondering if you'd be able to wiggle out of the 3% second home stamp duty. Anyone have the slightest idea?

Your mate could use a trust, as long as the beneficiary of the trust doesn't already own a property. So if his house was in his name, he could set up a trust in his wife's name (assuming he has one - it works for children as well) and bobs your wotsit. And I believe this can be scaled up for multiple properties, i.e. you can be the beneficiary of multiple trusts, as long as you don't actually own a property. It is just possible that the 3% saving on £60k isn't worth the aggro of setting one of these things up, and there's also the question of whether stamp duty on a second home even exists on a purchase under £250k. He should get some decent advice, or at least get googling, but where there's a tax, there's usually a way to avoid actually paying it.

[ChimpMaster]

Nope.

And £60k, wow. You could buy one up there every other month!

[d000hg]

For one not about me... A mate has a terraced house up here in Billy Elliot land. The one next door is empty and the owner has hinted he'd still for £60k or so so my mate is fairly seriously considering buying it and knocking the two together.

I was wondering if you'd be able to wiggle out of the 3% second home stamp duty. Anyone have the slightest idea?