Additional Stamp Duty for Second Home

[XJ75]

I have a buy-to-let property and a residential property.

We are in the middle of moving house which will involve selling the residential property and buying a new residential property.

I know that if this takes place on the same day then I don't need to pay additional SDLT.

I also know that if we buy before we sell then we can get the additional SDLT refunded within 3 years.

What I don't know is whether there is anything in the rules regarding what happens if we sell before we buy? We had a very generous offer on our place, but the place we are buying is probate and taking a long time. To avoid losing our buyer, we agreed to exchange contracts with a long-dated completion date, under the assumption that the probate property we are buying will be ready.

If the worst happens and the new place isn't ready so we have to move into a short-term rental for a month or two, will we have to pay additional stamp duty on the purchase?

Thanks.

[Big_Dog]

Phone the tax office. Really too much money for taking a chance with. They will email you the details of the conversation.
Belt and braces.

[XJ75]

Yeh that's what I'll do ultimately but I've already tried before and spent too long in a queue before giving up!

I found this:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consul...

Which says this:

HMRC said:

If the purchaser has sold a previous main residence within 18 months before the day of the transaction and the transaction is a purchase of a new main residence, the purchaser will be considered to be replacing a main residence. Where an individual is replacing a main residence the higher rates of SDLT will not apply.

So it looks like I've got 18 months to complete on the new place after selling the current place.

Edited by XJ75 on Monday 21st August 11:44