Tag: stamp duty

Landlords need a stamp duty holiday too!

Lesley Davis Leave a comment
Eliminating additional stamp duty for buy-to-let investors would have helped stimulate the supply of rental homes

The news delivered by Chancellor Rishi Sunak at lunchtime today, that homebuyers are to get a stamp duty holiday has been welcomed by the housing market. Anyone buying a home worth up to £500,000 will have no stamp duty to pay, in a move designed to boost the housing market post-lockdown.

For most homebuyers, the Chancellor claims his tax cut will mean a saving of up to £4,500. Good news for anyone thinking of moving in the months to come. But buy-to-let landlords contemplating a new investment property must still pay additional stamp duty on any new property they buy.

Fears have been raised in recent days that the Chancellor’s house-buying bonus wouldn’t kick-in until the autumn, effectively damping down transactions until then. But these proved unfounded and the stamp duty holiday will kick-in immediately and last until the end of March next year.

At Ringley, the news went down well but there was a caveat from group MD Mary-Anne Bowring, who is also the creator of our automated lettings platform, PlanetRent.

Mary-Anne welcomed the Chancellors announcement, saying “A stamp duty holiday will no doubt cause a rush of transactions and help breathe life into a housing market that has been put into deep freeze in an effort to battle coronavirus.” However, she believes the Government should be looking at long-term solutions rather than just “short-term sticking plasters” when it comes to fixing the UK housing market – and that should mean giving a helping hand to the rental sector too.

“The disruption caused by coronavirus will likely see rental demand grow, as banks squeeze potential buyers with tighter lending restrictions and people put off buying or selling a home as it becomes clearer COVID-19 has caused continued uncertainty and disruption in the medium term,” says Mary-Anne.

“Eliminating additional stamp duty for buy-to-let investors would have helped stimulate the supply of rental homes while also driving wider activity in the housing market. Landlords are a crucial source of development finance through off-plan sales and will help support getting Britain building again,” she says.

www.planetrent.co.uk

Why not READ our Property Blog: www.ringleypropertyblog.co.uk

Could a tax tribunal ruling mean BTL investors avoid 3% stamp duty surcharge?

Lesley Davis Leave a comment

Buy-to-let investors could soon fill the HMRC with stamp duty surcharge refund requests. This is following on from a potential precedent set at a recent tax tribunal that saw a couple acquire a neglected building and were able to refute the additional 3% stamp duty charge on purchases of second homes.

It was revealed at the tribunal, held in Bristol, that potentially, buy to let investors could avoid paying the 3% stamp duty surcharge. This instance could cause many more landlords who have already paid the surcharge, to demand a refund from HMRC and suggests that many property purchases could fall short of the additional 3% surcharge and just consist of the standard rate stamp duty.

Paul and Nikki Bewley acquired their uninhabitable bungalow in Western-super-Mare and made the decision to bulldoze the original build in order to make way for a new property, thinking they would not accountable for the 3% charge for Taking on the additional property.

HMRC argued this view, believing that the 3% charge was applicable, as the property was capable of being used as a dwelling sometime in the future.

However, a recent tax tribunal ruled against the HMRC and in favour of Paul and Nikki Bewley, stating that they are only able to charge the 3% if the home is in an acceptable living condition right away.

HMRC has yet to decide on an appeal, stating: “We’re considering the judgment carefully.”

But, this ruling suggests that many buy-to-let landlords could be exempt from the 3% surcharge, when buying a property that is uninhabitable at the time they purchased it.

Commercial Trust Limited, a specialist buy-to-let broker, considers that this ruling could represent an opportunity for past claims from buy-to-let investors who have paid the additional 3% charge on properties that were uninhabitable at the time of purchase.