Stamp Duty & Additional Homes

For those of you buying a 2nd, 3rd or even 14th home you will probably know about the changes to the law that come into effect on Friday 1st April 2016.

From Friday, anyone buying an additional home for any purpose will pay more stamp duty land tax. It is understood that the higher rates will only apply to additional residential properties purchased in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on or after 1 April 2016. The higher rates will be 3 percentage points above the current SDLT residential rates and they will be charged on the portion of the value of the property that falls into each band. See the table below:

This has led to our conveyancing department having an unprecedented amount of purchases due to complete before Friday’s deadline.

Our conveyancing partner, Caroline urges those people who are looking at buying a further home to carefully assess whether they can afford not only to buy it but whether they can afford the new stamp duty rates. Also, if you are in the process of buying a further home check with your solicitors whether completion will take place before Friday.

Unfortunately, the changes also affect jointly owned property and this also affects those people looking to buy another home with their partner even if one of them doesn’t own a property. It may also affect any divorce settlements. Our family solicitor, Gillian would strongly advise those who have agreed or are thinking of agreeing to keep their name on a property following separation to assess whether these new changes will cause them any issues in the long term.