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Where Taxpayers and Advisers Meet

Additional SDLT moving from rented property whilst having investment properties

Cloisters
Posts:47
Joined:Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:37 pm
Additional SDLT moving from rented property whilst having investment properties

Postby Cloisters » Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:22 pm

I own three properties. Two properties that I have always owned only as investments (purchased 19 and 3 years ago), and my previous PPR (for 25 years) which I now also rent out.

Earlier this year I moved to a rented property (I do not own) as my only home and plan to do so for the next few years whilst we discover the area. At this time I rented out our previous home.

What I would like to understand please is, if I purchase another home (moving from the current rented home), are there any conditions where I can avoid the highter SDLT charges please.

The SDLT manual seems to say that disposal of a rented property does not count where the lease is less than 7 years. This seems to force the situation that I must sell to buy. However, if I rent for over three years since moving from my old PPR of 25 years then even if I then sell it, I would incur the extra tax on buying my new home anyway.

If my understanding is correct the only way to save paying the higher rate is to live in a property I already own to establish as my PPR over time and sell it around the same time as buying the new home? This may well fit with our thoughts in the medium term anyway so not necessarily bad, but I would like to just understand my options please without incurring significant costs by mistake.

Many thanks in advance for your consideration and thoughts on this.

SDLT Geek
Posts:232
Joined:Sun Apr 30, 2017 5:45 pm

Re: Additional SDLT moving from rented property whilst having investment properties

Postby SDLT Geek » Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:03 pm

Yes, you are right that if you buy a property (even to live in) you will have to pay the extra 3%.

As you identify, to get within the “replacement exception” you cannot use the property you live in which you rent.

You would need a sale (or other full disposal) of a property you owned and lived in as your only or main residence. The sale would need to be within the three years before your upcoming purchase. You would also need to have lived in the old property within the same three years.

Cloisters
Posts:47
Joined:Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:37 pm

Re: Additional SDLT moving from rented property whilst having investment properties

Postby Cloisters » Tue Apr 09, 2019 10:35 pm

Thank you. Hopefully the oddity of the three year timeframe will change soon. It seems unfair that people are time limited in addition to having to sell a property, but since when has tax been fair I guess?


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