Am I a 'first time buyer'?

[buildhigh2000]

Hello! Bit of an odd situation! Looking for a little advice please...

We're hoping to purchase a house for 150k cash (half mine, half my fiancee's).

Neither of us have bought a house before, but a couple of years ago my parents kindly gifted me a 25% share in their buy-to-let house (so that I could have a share of the rental income). The gifting was properly done with the help of an accountant.

Does that mean I've lost my status as a First Time Buyer, so I have to pay stamp duty? Is there an obvious loophole?

Thankyou very much!

[Lambs]

B,

More detailed information can be found at

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/march/sdlt-qa-tech-1545.pdf

but I should say that from the general thrust of Q4 therein, the answer is that you are ineligible, on the basis that you had previously acquired a major interest in land.

An obvious solution might be that your fiancee buys the property solely in her name. But I should think that would need to reflect the beneficial interest. It may be worth either directly consulting a suitably qualified professional - perhaps the accountant who dealt with the previous transfer to you, the advantage being that they would already have a good appreciation of aspects of your circumstances - or to check with HM Revenue & Customs. I think that pre-existing arrangements for you to lend money to her, so that she might then acquire a property for both of you to occupy, would frustrate your efforts.

Regards,

Lambs

[buildhigh2000]

Thankyou ever so much for your advice - that ties in with what my hunch was, but it's useful to hear from someone with a better understanding than me. Darn!