3% SDLT surcharge

[MazzaMc]

My wife and I sold our main home last September and moved into a home owned solely by her. As we have lived here for over 8 months can this be classed as our main residence? We don't own any other property. Looking to buy another house but the sale of my wife's property has just fallen through so if we go ahead we'll have to pay the 3% sdlt surcharge! Not happy about it but if we don't want to lose the house we'll have to somehow find the extra money. Just want to make sure we'll be able to reclaim the surcharge within 3 years when we find another buyer for my wife's property? Thanks for any advice.

[bd6759]

Moving to your wife's house does not make it a residence. It is a stop gap.

The 3% will not apply because you have sold and are replacing your main residence,

[MazzaMc]

Thank you for taking the time to answer my enquiry. That's rather a shock that living somewhere for 8 months is only considered a stop gap. We're registered to vote, all correspondence is sent here and we're registered with doctors etc. Are you 100% certain on this?

[MazzaMc]

So when she sells her home it will be liable for CGT? Would it be a good idea to put my name on the title deed so I can use my CGT allowance too? Is this easy to do by yourself or would I need a solicitor? Thanks again for any advice.

[bd6759]

Residence implies permanence. You intended to live there only until you were able to buy your new residence.

Google declaration of trust. Basically your wife signs a document saying that she holds the proeprty in trust for both of you jointly.

[MazzaMc]

Thanks very much for your reply.

[MazzaMc]

Thank you very much for the suggestion of a declaration of trust. I'd never heard of this before. This seems a much better solution than changing the title deed.

[MazzaMc]

Does the DOT need to be registered at the land registry?

[someone]

Residence implies permanence. You intended to live there only until you were able to buy your new residence.

Doesn't this somewhat depend on the situation when there were two properties owned.

If the current home was let then I agree with you that the current occupation is temporary.

However, if the OP had two homes then they were both already residences. And the current residence automatically became 'the only or main residence' at the moment the other was sold. The fact that the op intends to sell it doesn't affect that determination.

If the OP made a cgt election previously then they could explicitly change their current home into their main residence (for CGT) the day before the previous home was sold by making another election.

[bd6759]

And the current residence automatically became 'the only or main residence' at the moment the other was sold. The fact that the op intends to sell it doesn't affect that determination.

That is not correct. There is a difference between occupation and residence.

Before a property can be an only or a main residence it first has to be a residence. Just because a person owns a house does not mean that he (or she) owns a residence.