SDLT for bare ownership of a property abroad

[khalsa87]

Hi,

My partner and I are in the process of buying a residential property in the UK which will be our first main residence in this country.

He is British but I am French and my parents bought a residential property in France a few years ago, which they put in my two siblings' and my name, as bare owners. I only have bare ownership of a third of the property (my share is worth more than £40,000) and the full beneficials are my parents. Unlike me, they have the permanent right to live in it, and rent it, and keep any profits arising from the use of the property.

These rights and full ownership to the property will only pass to me and my siblings after our parents' death. Does the fact that the property abroad is not really mine to use or benefit from mean that my partner and I won't need to pay the additional 3% SDLT when we purchase our first home in the UK?

Thanks for your help.

[maths]

If it is the case that under French law the position is that your parents currently possess all the rights to the property (eg right to live in it; right to rental income from it etc) other than the nominal legal title which you and siblings possess then on the acquisition of the UK property the 3% SDLT charge shouldn't apply.