Stamp duty, electing a primary home and time living to qualify as a primary home

[Mungo17]

Hi,

Please can I ask for some advice on higher rate stamp duty.

My wife and I currently live in a rented home, provide by my employer and we also own a property and we live between them, but primarily in the rented property.

We are now in the process of buying a primary family home, and for a period will essentially have 3 homes and believe we are subject to higher rate stamp duty.

House number 2 is on the market, but not sold, and highly likely we will buy our future family home before we sell our current 2nd home.

Is it possible to elect which is your primary residence? If so, is there a minimum period we need to have the 2nd home as our primary home, to either avoid the higher rate or pay and submit a subsequent reclaim?

Thank you for any insight.

[bd6759]

It is not possible for a house to artificially become a main residence. Moving in for a short period does not make it a main residence if, as a matter of fact, you do not intend it to be be so.

Has the house ever been your, or your wife's, main home? Perhaps before you moved into the rented property?

[Mungo17]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, my wife lived there full time for approx 5 yrs until 2010.

[bd6759]

Needs to have been residence during the preceeding 3 years for the repayment clause to apply.

To avoid the 3% you need to sell it before you buy a new residence, and you must do this before 26 November 2018.