Buying with Wadyi
Here at Wadyi Properties & Management Limited we make it a personal pleasure to help you through the experience of purchasing your first home or 2nd home. Our philosophy means we are to approach the acquisition of a home armed with all you need to know for a smooth pain free experience whilst giving you some answers to a few questionable thoughts regarding stamp duty.
Step 1 – Alot of the stress that comes with the buying process is deciding how much you want to spend. Making sure your finances are in place is just as important so speaking to a mortgage advisor beforehand and knowing what monthly repayments would be are paramount. Other expenses which should also be drawn to your attention are possible stamp duty cost, legal fees and possible removal expenses.
Step 2 – Once you have decided that you are happy to purchase through ourselves, it’s important to discuss with a solicitor as to whether you would be owning the freehold or leasehold of the apartment or house.
Step 3 – Once you identified the particular size, style whether it has a garden or garage, you can begin viewings. Again the best and most suitable selections will be brought to your attention from our allocated sales negotiator. We have a unique relationship with many of our vendors due to the long running of our business so we are best advised to tell you about reasonable offers to make depending on the sellers position or whether you intend to go ahead without needing to sell first.
Step 4 – This is the point where your solicitors details are given to us to be passed on to the owners solicitors enabling a draft contract of sale. This period could take weeks and sometimes months to conclude so it’s always advised to be easily contactable via email and phone so as to communicate easily within the parties involved.
Step 5 – Contracts are exchange upon the acceptance of deposit s and mortgage funds being cleared however if the funds in question are directly related to funds being cleared for a further sale then this may delay proceedings. This allows for the more menial things like removal of possessions or changing of utilities to be arranged.
Step 6 – The light at the end of the tunnel has been reached and once the electronic transfer of funds has been made from solicitor to solicitor the approval of keys to be released is sent.
Stamp Duty
You must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The current SDLT threshold is £125,000 for residential properties and £150,000 for non-residential land and properties.
There are different rules if you’re buying your first home. You get a discount (relief) that means you pay less or no tax if:
- You complete your purchase on or after 22 November 2017
- The purchase price is £500,000 or less
- You and anyone else you’re buying with, are first-time buyers
Stamp Duty Rates & Thresholds
You usually pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on increasing portions of the property price above £125,000 when you buy residential property, eg a house or flat.
There are different rules if you’re buying your first home and the purchase price is £500,000 or less.
Rates if you’re buying your first home – You can claim a discount (relief) so you don’t pay any tax up to £300,000 and 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000.
You’re eligible if:
- You and anyone else you’re buying with, are first-time buyers
- You complete your purchase on or after 22 November 2017
If the price is over £500,000, you follow the rules for people who’ve bought a home before.
Non Residential and Mixed Use Land and Property Rates
You pay SDLT on increasing portions of the property price when you pay £150,000 or more for non-residential or mixed-use land or property.
Non-residential property includes:
- Commercial property, eg shops or offices
- Agricultural land
- Forests
- Any other land or property which is not used as a residence
- 6 or more residential properties bought in a single transaction
A ‘mixed use’ property is one that has both residential and non-residential elements, eg a flat connected to a shop, doctor’s surgery or office.
Once a home has been purchased, the buyer has 30 days from the contract date to pay the required stamp duty cost or we can instruct our solicitors to take care of that for you. The three simple steps of doing this are easy,
1) The Unique transaction number which can be found on your submission receipt or SDLT return form is needed and it’s an 11 digit number needed for processing.
2) Go to the HMRC website and request the bank details where the tax amount can be transferred from your bank.
3) If you don’t have online banking, you can pay by card over the internet, cheque or payment via post office which can take up to 3 working days.
But is has also been made aware since March of this year that companies who intended to buy homes would also face a higher tax bracket of 15% for homes exceeding £2million and for any company that already owned properties of this value would from 2013 be legible to paying capital gains tax. These are some of the ideas which may be raised which we at Wadyi Properties & Management Limited like to inform and bring to your awareness.
