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Ah, yes, I'm getting stung by this despite my case not being a target one. Our house is not selling quickly (it needs "neutralizing" and showing as empty, not

Ah, yes, I'm getting stung by this despite my case not being a target one. Our house is not selling quickly (it needs "neutralizing" and showing as empty, not packed with a family in it) but we have grossly outgrown it. Luckily we can afford two mortgages so are buying the house we want and doing up the "old" one to sell. So because it's "expanding our portfolio", we'll get to pay the extra tax (some £10K+) although supposedly we can reclaim it if we sell within 18 months. So it's annoying but TBH at this rate I just want to move so que sera.. :-) For people on tight budgets, it's going to kill a lot of options though.

Someone1234 11y ago
> For people on tight budgets, it's going to kill a lot of options though. I don't follow this? People on tight budgets cannot afford two concurrent mortgages and WILL sell within 18 months.
- justin66 11y ago
  If you need to pay the tax and then reclaim it, you'll need to have 10k cash handy.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - sokoloff 11y ago
    If you're going to buy a 350K property, you're going to want to have access to 10K in cash anyway. If you're buying a second (even temporarily), even moreso.
    - justin66 11y ago
      If you're going to buy a 350k property, you're probably not who the OP had in mind when he mentioned "people on tight budgets."
      - sokoloff 11y ago
        The second home tax is a 3% surtax on the purchase price. If the property isn't ~350K, the tax isn't ~10K.
        justin66 11y ago
        Ah, thanks. That makes more sense.
- petercooper 11y ago
  There are two situations I can think of. 1) Some people have high incomes and low liquid capital/savings after paying a deposit. (So could afford to service two mortgages temporarily but don't have the stamp duty to lay down then reclaim.) They may not be poor either, they may simply have a lot of equity in property 1 that isn't liquid. 2) Others may choose to rent out their old property for a year or so until they are in a better position to sell. This does not really make them rich landlords to target with extra tax and they'll get it back anyway, but they may not have the capital as in option 1.
  - pc86 11y ago
    I would think at least #2 would be exactly the type of target this second home tax is aimed at. And those that fall under #1 should probably not move prior to selling the first home.
petercooper 11y ago
As an aside, this is the first time I've ever seen a -1 score on a HN comment. New HN feature? Even my troll posts have only made it to 0 before, and I'm seeing a -1 on something that's just a statement of fact, haha :-D

Someone1234 11y ago

> For people on tight budgets, it's going to kill a lot of options though. I don't follow this? People on tight budgets cannot afford two concurrent mortgages and WILL sell within 18 months.

justin66 11y ago
If you need to pay the tax and then reclaim it, you'll need to have 10k cash handy.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- sokoloff 11y ago
  If you're going to buy a 350K property, you're going to want to have access to 10K in cash anyway. If you're buying a second (even temporarily), even moreso.
  - justin66 11y ago
    If you're going to buy a 350k property, you're probably not who the OP had in mind when he mentioned "people on tight budgets."
    - sokoloff 11y ago
      The second home tax is a 3% surtax on the purchase price. If the property isn't ~350K, the tax isn't ~10K.
      - justin66 11y ago
        Ah, thanks. That makes more sense.
petercooper 11y ago
There are two situations I can think of. 1) Some people have high incomes and low liquid capital/savings after paying a deposit. (So could afford to service two mortgages temporarily but don't have the stamp duty to lay down then reclaim.) They may not be poor either, they may simply have a lot of equity in property 1 that isn't liquid. 2) Others may choose to rent out their old property for a year or so until they are in a better position to sell. This does not really make them rich landlords to target with extra tax and they'll get it back anyway, but they may not have the capital as in option 1.
- pc86 11y ago
  I would think at least #2 would be exactly the type of target this second home tax is aimed at. And those that fall under #1 should probably not move prior to selling the first home.

petercooper 11y ago

As an aside, this is the first time I've ever seen a -1 score on a HN comment. New HN feature? Even my troll posts have only made it to 0 before, and I'm seeing a -1 on something that's just a statement of fact, haha :-D