Stamp Duty - Everything you need to know

If you’re buying a home in England or Northern Ireland costing more than £125,000, you’ll have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on your purchase. Use this guide to find out about how Stamp Duty works, including Stamp Duty for first-time buyers, rates for second homes and how it is paid.

What is Stamp Duty?

In England and Northern Ireland you’re liable to pay Stamp Duty when you buy a residential property, or a piece of land, costing more than £125,000 (or more than £40,000 for second homes).


This tax applies to both freehold and leasehold properties – whether you’re buying outright or with a mortgage.
If you’re buying a property in Scotland you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and in Wales Land Transaction Tax (LTT) instead of Stamp Duty.

If you’re buying in Scotland, find out more about Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT).

If you’re buying in Wales, find out more about Land Transaction Tax.

How much is Stamp Duty?

There are several rate bands for Stamp Duty.
The tax is calculated on the part of the property purchase price
 falling within each band.

For example, if you buy a house for £275,000, the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) you owe is calculated as follows:

• 0% on the first £125,000 = £0
• 2% on the next £125,000 = £2,500
• 5% on the final £25,000 = £1,250

Stamp Duty rates*

Minimum property purchase price	Maximum property purchase price	Stamp Duty rate (only applies only to the part of the property price falling within each band)
£0	£125,000	0%
£125,001	£250,000	2%
£250,001	£925,000	5%
£925,001	£1.5 million	10%
Over £1.5 million		12%

*Stamp duty for residential leasehold properties are charged differently.

Stamp Duty on second homes

Buyers of additional residential properties, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties, will have to pay an extra 3% in Stamp Duty on top of current rates for each band.
This increased rate applies to properties bought for £40,000 or more.
It doesn’t apply to caravans, mobile homes or houseboats.
If you buy a new main residence but there’s a delay in selling your previous main residence, you’ll have to pay the higher Stamp Duty rates as you’ll now own two properties.
However, if you sell or give away your previous main home within 3 years of buying your new home you can apply for a refund of the higher SDLT rate part of your Stamp Duty bill.
You can request a refund for the amount above the normal Stamp Duty rates if:

• you sell your previous main residence within three years, and
• you claim the refund within three months of the sale of your previous main residence, or within 12 months of the filing date of your SDLT tax return, whichever comes later.

 You can calculate you stamp duty here

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/house-buying/stamp-duty-calculator

Use our Stamp Duty calculator to find out how much you’ll pay.

For example, if you buy a house for £275,000, the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) you owe is calculated as follows:

• 0% on the first £125,000 = £0
• 2% on the next £125,000 = £2,500
• 5% on the final £25,000 = £1,250

Total SDLT = £3,750
Stamp Duty rates*

Minimum property purchase price	Maximum property purchase price	Stamp Duty rate (only applies only to the part of the property price falling within each band)
£0	£125,000	0%
£125,001	£250,000	2%
£250,001	£925,000	5%
£925,001	£1.5 million	10%
Over £1.5 million		12%

*Stamp duty for residential leasehold properties are charged differently.

Stamp Duty on second homes

Buyers of additional residential properties, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties, will have to pay an extra 3% in Stamp Duty on top of current rates for each band.
This increased rate applies to properties bought for £40,000 or more.
It doesn’t apply to caravans, mobile homes or houseboats.
If you buy a new main residence but there’s a delay in selling your previous main residence, you’ll have to pay the higher Stamp Duty rates as you’ll now own two properties.
However, if you sell or give away your previous main home within 3 years of buying your new home you can apply for a refund of the higher SDLT rate part of your Stamp Duty bill.
You can request a refund for the amount above the normal Stamp Duty rates if:

• you sell your previous main residence within three years, and
• you claim the refund within three months of the sale of your previous main residence, or within 12 months of the filing date of your SDLT tax return, whichever comes later.

For an application form and more information, visit the GOV.UK website

Moving bricks working in conjunction with an award winning conveyancing firm

Moving bricks working in conjunction, with an award winning innovative conveyancing firm that has won 3 awards at the Estate Agent of the year conveyancing awards, which were held at the Grosvenor hotel in London, The Awards were based solely on client’s feedback. The Firm based in Manchester City centre, were given 3 awards, Best Regional, Best in county and best single office in the UK, this was based over a 10 month qualifying period.

Head of operations and Founder of the Firm said “we thought we were clearly underdogs due to other firms being in the industry far longer so we are truly honoured to walk out with 3 awards”. The firm was set up 24 months ago with the aim to create a property law firm which engages with clients, uses cutting edge technology to help the client have an exceptional Journey when buying a property. The firm has ambitious expansion plans based on an already succesfull business model, the firm works under the umbrella of a large law firm established in 1875.

In addition to the ESTAS Awards the firm has also been awarded the Law societies conveyancing quality scheme, this means they are accredited by them and recognised as one of the country’s leading conveyancers and on all major Lenders panels . To get a quote for this firm then please visit our portal at www.movingbricks.co.uk Or just click on the logo below .

The power of online reviews

As more and more people are sharing their everyday experiences on the world wide web, online reputation has become an important factor in determining whether a business will go bust or become a roaring success. Did you know that 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business? Whether you run a simple burger joint, a restaurant offering unique culinary experiences or a luxury hotel overlooking the sea, what people are writing about you on the internet can make or break your business. Let’s take a look at some of the most crucial ways in which online reviews have the power to influence the successfulness of your business:

Social reach and trust building

We live in a time where, due to massive false advertising with sole intent to gain bigger profits by deceiving potential customers, people have simply stopped blindly trusting businesses when they promote their own services to others. No matter how amazing your business is, self-praise will only get you so far; research shows that consumer reviews are nearly 12 times more trusted than descriptions that come from businesses. Nowadays, people seek real advice from real users, sharing their honest and unfiltered opinion about their experience with the business, which is why reviews have become the best way for businesses to build a bigger social reach and establish valuable trust which instantly converts potential customers into paying customers — a study shows that 92% of users will use a local business if it has at least a 4-star rating.

Priceless feedback for business improvements

Although one might think that negative reviews can do nothing more but severely harm your business, that is actually not the case at all; in fact, negative reviews can help you achieve a thriving success by engaging with your customers and improving your business according to their desires. A study showed that when retailers replied to negative reviews, a third of customers either deleted their original negative review or replaced it with a positive review and nearly a fifth went on to become loyal customers. So, the main factor in determining how reviews will affect your business’ success is actually not the ratio between positive and negative reviews, but how fast and well businesses response to them. What people want are instant, honest and personalized interaction, feeling that the businesses like engaging with them, value their opinion and that they are striving to realize people’s recommendations — case in point, a study by Cornell University professors discovered that sales go up each time a business responds to a review.

Certified ID and proof off address

Types of ID accepted by most conveyancers


You must provide one proof of identity (ID) and one proof of address (POA), as well as an additional item of either ID or POA, from the approved list below. The additional item must be provided from a separate source, i.e. 2 bank statements – one for a savings account and a second for a current account, from the same provider – would not be accepted.
If you are making a joint application then bills in joint names may be considered as one proof of address for each of the named individuals on that bill. Where you have recently married and have not made the appropriate changes to your documentation, please also include your marriage certificate.

Personal Identity:

• Current valid (signed) full EU Passport
• Current valid  (signed) non EU Passport
• Current valid National ID card (non UK Nationals)
• Current Full² UK Driving Licence ¹
• Current UK / EU Photocard Driving Licence¹ with Counterpart
• Current Firearms/Shotgun Certificate
• Current State Pension notification letter¹
• Current Benefits Agency letter¹
• Current years HMRC Tax Code Notification⁵
• Current Blue Disabled Drivers Pass
• Identity Card by Electoral Office of Northern Ireland

Address verification:

• Mortgage Statement (13) or Mortgage Redemption Statement (3)
• Recent Utility Bill – Gas, Electricity, Water, Telephone (Not mobile phones) (3)
• Current Council Tax Bill (13)
• Current Full UK Driving Licence (Paper document)¹
• Current UK / EU Photocard Driving Licence¹ with Counterpart
• House or motor insurance certificate (12)
• Current State Pension notification letter¹
• Current Benefits Agency letter¹
• Bank / Building Society / Statement (3)
• Solicitor letter confirming completion of house purchase³
• Credit Card Statements from main provider (3) ⁴
• HMRC Tax notification documentation (this does not include P60’s) (12)
• Account, investment or insurance documents (6)⁶
• Letter from Council Confirming Electoral Roll Listing (3) 

The Document will need to be dates within the last 60 days to be valid proof off address .

It is never usually required that a conveyancer will ask you for original documents ,  but they will need to be certified .

Getting Documents Certified  

• Post Office;
• Bank official;
• Solicitor;
• Notary,
• or official from an overseas British Consulate.
• Someone regulated by an Authority like the FCA.

You must ensure that all documents are clearly certified in Black & White (colour copies are not acceptable); this must include the certification wording, an official stamp (which includes company name), a printed name, job title, qualifications, and be dated and signed. The correct form of words for certifying documents is:
“I certify that this is a true copy of the original document which I have seen and I certify that this is a true likeness to the person whom I have seen.”

Is something cheap always good value ?

It is always hard deciding on a product or service, you sometimes get bombarded with offers especially if it is a market flooded with competition, usually a lot of people buy products and services from recommendation, what if you don’t know anyone who has bought this particular product or service before . You are then left with a choice do you go for cheap and take a chance on the Product or service needed or do you go for the more expensive product or service in the hope that the higher price will mean a good quality product or service.

From my experience something that is a lot more expensive doesn’t mean it is reliable, gives a good service or will last if it is a tangible product. When I was in my late teens and early twenties and was into partying and clubbing with my friends, if it was a really special occasion I would save up and buy a designer outfit, designer shirt and a designer pair of trousers. I remember paying £160 for a shirt with a designer name on I bought it directly for the designers shop in the West End, so I knew it was genuine, after only 2 washes 2 of the buttons fell of the shirt and the stitching was coming loose around the bottom of the shirt, I had paid for an expensive name but the shirt had no quality so for me it was definitely not value for money. I had also bought a pair of corduroy trousers from the same designer ( yes corduroy was in fashion when I was younger ) they cost me around £220 a lot of money in the late 80’s , these trousers lasted me nearly 7 years , they were still wearable but I had gotten a little fatter and they no longer fit me. I still managed to sell the on EBay for £40 as they had a lot of wear left in them, for me they were great value for money even at a higher cost.

The other side to this was buying pair of trousers and a shirt that were not designer or from any famous maker, I think the shirt cost me around £25 and the trousers £40 these were meant for regular use for my job at the time working for a telephone cable company . The shirt lasted me over 2 years, but the trousers after only a few washes the area where I would sit in them had already started to go thin. So here were 2 items that were cheap but one had lasted and one had not for me the shirt was good value but the trousers were not. So what do you do, when you have no one in your circle of friends or colleagues who can recommend you that product or service, as you can see from my examples above the actual cost of a product or service will not always reflect in the quality or value for money that it offers?

So what do you do, when you have no one in your circle of friends or colleagues who can recommend you that product or service, as you can see from my examples above the actual cost of a product or service will not always reflect in the quality or value for money that it offers?

When choosing a product or service from a provider that is online or offers services through a website , you can usually with a quick Google search find out if they have any bad reviews as well as look for positive feedback from clients who have used their service . Some providers depending on the goods or services they are providing will appear on resources like trust pilot. Although searching reviews online will give you some indication of a provider’s goods or services, the reviews are not always accurate or can even be people paid by the provider to put false reviews on the internet.

You can sometimes email the company to supply references of people that have used their service and in some circumstances you can contact the reviewer but this is very rare. Another way providers can help new potential customers is by providing a feedback scoring system like EBay currently offers, it is always wise to look through a cross section of these reviews as some of the more positive ones might appear at the top but the negative ones will be half way down or at the bottom.

At moving Bricks we work in conjunction with a modern conveyancing only firm in Manchester, the managing partner of the firm is a friend as well as work colleague, I have worked with Fiaz Khalid since 2001 and have always found him extremely conscientious and focused in getting the job done properly and quickly.  As he runs a Manchester based firm overheads are probably 40% lower than they are in London and the South East of England. This allows the firm to reduce costs and pass the saving on to the client, Also the firm is a conveyancing only firm with specialist lawyers who have trained and focus on conveyancing only, the benefit over firms that look after lots of areas of the Law, criminal, immigration and litigation for example is that they will always be available to work on your case, were smaller diverse firms get bogged down with court duties taking them out of the office for sometimes long periods of time.

Moving bricks is run by 2 mortgage brokers with over 60 years of combined experience, one of the biggest struggles as a mortgage broker has been working with good and efficient solicitors, basically until a case completes you don’t earn your money so become reliant on the solicitor whose job it is to complete the remortgage or purchase in a reasonable amount of time.

From our years of experience we have found that, a good conveyancer is worth their weight in gold, so when we started working with Fiaz Khalid we have been so impressed we have built a portal called moving Bricks that allows the public to get a free no obligation quotation for his Firm and instruct them to start the work. We also have a portal that is called www.valueconveyancer.co.uk this one deals with Estate agents and mortgage brokers and allows them to instruct their own clients through our site , we have been running this for 5 years and we have had a smooth capable service that our Agents and brokers have been extremely happy with .

So what we offer at www.movingbricks.co.uk is a tried and tested conveyancer that we have a very strong relationship with offering market leading rates and offering a market leading service, you get access to an award winning tracking system that allows you to log in and track the progress of your case.

So in a nutshell we are offering something that really is good value for Money , if you would like to try us then please click on the Moving bricks logo below and give us a or at least get a quote .

Auction Legal Packs

I went to a property auction a few weeks back, and saw a flat potentially worth about half a million go for £134,000. Ok, it only had an 8 year lease left on it, but that still has to be a massive bargain - or is it??
Buying at auction may be a potential way to beat the ridiculous house prices we have at the moment, but please don't do it without taking the proper advice.
Firstly, if you are not buying for cash, do speak to a qualified adviser regarding any possible pitfalls around buying at auction with finance.

Secondly, please ensure that you obtain the legal pack from the seller of the property and have it looked over by a solicitor or conveyancer who is used to dealing with this stuff. There may be issues with extending the lease on the property mentioned above, and that is one of the many issues that may crop up. You need somebody qualified to look into all possible problems before you go and risk very large chunks of your hard-earned money.

Ok, I know it can cost between £500 and £800 to get a legal pack checked, and that's for something you may not ultimately want or get - however, its a great deal preferable to spending a fortune buying a turkey.

If you would like a solicitor whose charges start at a mere £297 for checking legal packs, then go to movingbricks.co.uk. Its a great firm, they can do loads online, the oh-so important speed is there, and they can also go on to do your conveyancing if you go ahead with the purchase. Conveyancing costs start at £445.

If you want to know more about checking legal packs, read my other blog here
WHAT IS A LEGAL PACK?
When a property is sold at auction, it is usual for a legal pack to be prepared by the seller's solicitors. There is no legal requirement for the vendor to produce a pack, but it is highly recommended that you focus your attention on properties where there is such a pack available, and that you have the documentation inspected thoroughly by a solicitor/conveyancer prior to auction day. You will normally find the packs on the auction website via the property details page, or a hard copy will usually be available in the auction room.
A pack will typically consist of the following:

• Official Copy of Register of Title (Office Copy Entry)
• Land Registry and Local Searches
• Leases
• Special Conditions of Sale
• Property Information Form
• Tenancy Agreements
• Fixtures and Fittings Form
• Management Information
• Planning Permission Documentation
Auction teams recommend that all elements of the legal pack are inspected by those wishing to bid and their legal advisors. The Special Conditions of Sale will include pertinent information such as completion date, any additional disbursements that become payable on completion, and overage clauses.