shawa

When buying a house that was over a stamp duty threshold, you used to be able to pay up to the threshold and then £x for fixtures and fittings to make up the price (within reason).

I know this has changed in the last 6 months, but does anybody know what the new rules are?

What is considered a 'reasonable' amount to pay for fixtures and fittings?

I'm talking about the 3% threshold, if that makes any difference.
Thanks.

matt.bowey

From recent dealings buying a house, any additional was frouned upon by my solicitor. Offer £249,999.99 as a final offer and see what happens.......If the property is up for £260k, then I bet that will be everyones best offer.......!

Is its >£275k, then I guess you will just have to swallow the tax bill......!

Many £275k houses only get £250k........! be brave!

milo

fixtures ARE subject to stamp duty.

it's extra items that the seller is not electing to take with them that you're thinking about.. things like curtains and carpets. these are not subject to stamp duty, but you can only pay a "reasonable estimate" of their value. in other words, attempting to pay £10k for an MFI coffee table is likely to raise alarms.

GCollier

I recently discussed this issue with an estate agent as I was interested in a house at 525k, and paying above 500k would have mean an extra 5k in stamp duty.

She said that the inland revenue nowadays take a keen interest in houses sold around stamp duty thresholds with money paid separately for f&f. She also said that only the value of the goods as secondhand goods on the open market could be considered. On this 525k house she suggested that a figure of more than 2k for f&f would be asking for trouble.

One other suggestion she did have though would be to (say) offer 510k, conditional upon the vendor paying the extra stamp duty.

Gary.

shawa

Yes, sorry; I didn't mean fixtures and fittings, I meant curtains, carpets, etc.

They want £265K and won't take £249,995 - I've tried.

I might see if they'll pay the stamp duty, but I don't think they'll go for it, as the property's only been on the market for a couple of weeks. Worth a go.

Will probably have to try and wait them out...!

fast bloke

Give them 249995 and a 10k cash 'thankyou token' on completion