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Stamp Duty - budget update
First-time buyers:
- No stamp duty on purchases up to £250,000
- Buyer (or all buyers if joint purchase) must not have previously owned a property anywhere in the world
- Completion date must be on or after 25 March 2010 and before 25 March 2012
- Property must be your only or main home
Otherwise rates remain as:
- Up to £125,000 - nil
- £125,001 to £250,000 - 1%
- £250,001 to £500,000 - 3%
- over £500,000 4%
From April 2011 stamp duty on properties over £1m will be 5%
Note: The duty is payable on the whole transaction value. If the value is above the payment threshold, SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is charged at the appropriate rate on the whole of the amount paid. For example, a house bought for £130,000 is charged at 1 per cent, so £1,300 must be paid in SDLT. A house bought for £350,000 is charged at 3 per cent, so SDLT of £10,500 is payable.
For more information about Stamp Duty in UK and how and when it must be paid see the Inland Revenue web site
All properties offered for sale require a HIP
All residential properties offered for sale will require a HIP (Home Information Pack) and an ERC (Energy Performance Certificate) before the property is offered for sale
More >>
Check a report is valid
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Home Condition Reports (HCRs) are held on central registers. The Registers provide an independent means for potential buyers and sellers (and those acting on their behalf) to check that the EPC or HCR is authentic and has not been altered since it was produced by an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor or a certificated Home Inspector.
You can check on-line here >>
Locate an assessor
Find a Domestic Energy Assessor or Home Inspector to provide your Energy Performance Certificate or Home Condition Report >>
Grants for energy saving
There are a number of grants available to help with improving the energy efficiency of your home. Check these for your current and proposed future homes. Availability of grants varies with location. See the Energy Saving Trust web site grants page >>
Sample HIP
Download a sample HIP (from Government HIP information site) >>
You can create your own pack:
See “What’s in a Home Information Pack?” on the Government’s site >>
Check this anyway to make sure you are getting what you pay for.
Previous articles on HIPS >>
Checklist for buying a house
Some advice from the Government web site Directgov:
Financial planning for buying your house >>
Checklist when you move >>
Check the environment of your intended new house
The Home Check site gives you information about risk of flooding, subsidence, mining activities, landfill sites, previous industrial use etc. for most UK post codes. Bear in mind this is just an overview and in some cases is a very general summary of quite a wide area. But it will give you a guide as to whether further investigations are prudent. You can purchase more detailed reports on-line.
www.homecheck.co.uk
House Prices
As part of the Freedom of Information Act the Land Registry is making available actual prices paid for property in England and Wales. You can go directly to their site and pay £2 on-line for the information on a single property. They also have further details and plans for some properties (also £2 per document)
Alternatively, you can sign up with an on-line service which makes the process a bit easier. Try:
Guide to Planning Permissions in England & Wales
Government Planning Portal
Huge amounts of information about whether you need planning permission for extensions and other work to your property.
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