Professional Legal Services | Cardiff
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New measures set out by the Welsh Government regarding land transaction tax in Wales will come into effect on July 27.
The Land Transaction Tax replaced stamp duty in Wales in 2018 and is usually applied to homes valued at £180,000 or above. Under the new measures announced by the Welsh Government, the starting threshold for the tax will increase from £180,000 to £250,000, meaning around 80% of homebuyers will not pay any tax.
The tax holiday, a temporary measure which lasts until March 31 next year, primarily benefits first-time buyers and home owners buying a new property as their main residence and does not apply to landlords who buy-to-let or home owners looking to purchase a second home.
Combined with the partial reopening of the housing market in Wales, the measures are likely to encourage buyers to move forward with their purchases. Potential buyers can currently view and move into vacant residential properties, and valuations of occupied properties can be valued and inspected in line with social distancing guidelines, ahead of completing the sale.
For those in the process of buying a house, it is worth speaking with a conveyancer about exchanging contracts or completing purchases after July 27 to benefit from the tax holiday, though considerations should be made about arrangements that may be impacted upon including removals and property chains. Unfortunately, purchases completed before this date will not be eligible for the tax reduction.
The announcement from the Welsh Government follows the Chancellor’s Economic Statement on July 7 which set out changes in Stamp Duty for properties in England and Northern Ireland. Effective from July 8, residential purchasers buying property under £500,000 in these countries will not have to pay stamp duty until the end of March.
Meanwhile in Scotland, in a similar move to Wales, the starting threshold for land and buildings transaction tax has also increased to £250,000. However, the changes in Scotland are being implemented earlier, with homebuyers able to benefit from the tax reduction from July 15.
The Residential Property team at Emyr Pierce Solicitors have expert knowledge and experience of all aspects of the residential market. From queries about land transaction tax to navigating through the complexities of a property transaction, Emyr Pierce Solicitors can advise and guide you through a variety of residential property and conveyancing issues.
Contact us by telephone on 02920 616002 or email law@emyrpierce.co.uk
We wish to reassure our clients, professional colleagues and suppliers, that we aim to remain fully operational during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
It would be of great assistance if all correspondence and documentation, other than original documents, are sent to us electronically by e-mail to assist our fee earners who may have to progress cases by working remotely, if necessary.
Original documents should still be sent to us by first class post.
We regret that we are currently unable to offer any new, or satisfy any pre-arranged, personal appointments in accordance with Government guidelines, in order to protect the welfare of our clients and staff, but remain available to you by telephone or email.
We thank you for your understanding and would appreciate your patience when awaiting a response to your enquiries due to the possibility of our lawyers working remotely from the office.
If you need to contact us, please do not hesitate to do so by telephone on 02920 616002 or Email: law@emyrpierce.co.uk
Should you have any concerns with regard to how your transaction is being handled, please contact our Practice Manager, Laura Pierceat laurap@emyrpierce.co.uk
Responding to Philip Hammond’s budget, Emyr Pierce, Managing Director of Emyr Pierce Solicitors, said: “The scrapping of Stamp Duty for first time buyers will clearly help all those getting on the property ladder for the first time but there will be major savings in London and South East where average prices will provide a £5000 saving on properties of £300,000 and above.
In Wales, subject to further deliberations from Welsh Government, this will currently only be available until 1st April 2018.
In Wales, if you base the savings on the average first time buyers’ purchases (between £150K and £200K) the saving will be £500 – £1500 respectively.
This will certainly provide a cash “bonus” (rather than a “windfall”) on purchasing for all first time buyers buying homes over £125K (of which there is a lower percentage in Wales than in the UK as a whole) particularly for those in the process of buying who have set aside the stamp duty which will now no longer be payable.
It is also worth noting that the Independent Office for Budget Responsibility claims that the main effect of the stamp duty announcement will be to raise house prices by 0.3%!!!
Savings
Price Saving
£150K £500
£180K £1200
£200K £1500
£250K £2500
£300K £5000
The Bank of England has cut the benchmark base rate from 0.5% to 0.25% after more than seven years of no change. This is clearly a direct attempt to boost the UK economy in the wake of the ‘Brexit’ vote on 24 June.
There is no question that the immediate effect of the referendum vote has had a dramatic impact on the financial markets and the Bank of England is clearly stepping in now, rather than next month as was originally anticipated, to make this cut.
This is usually an indication that the value of the British Pound, share prices and decision making on the part of potential house purchasers have all taken a substantial hit over the past few weeks.
We have found that particularly in the South East of England buyers have withdrawn from on-going transactions concerned that the fall in the value of the Pound and the adverse impact on financial markets could result in a fall in house prices. With house prices raging ever upwards in London and the South East in particular any drop in prices will have a substantial impact in those areas.
Arguably in Wales, the impact should be somewhat smaller but this does not detract from a general nervousness on the part of purchasers who clearly do not want to pay over the odds for properties which in 12 months’ time could be worth substantially less.
Information coming through indicates that the construction industry have identified a sharp slowdown in production recording its worst month in seven years for June 2016.
The reality is very little, but the signs are that the nervousness and the inevitable impact by way of falling house prices, will make mortgage companies more cautious, valuers will be cautious when valuing properties for mortgage purposes and potential buyers will be extra cautious in their pursuit of new properties.
One major effect of a reduction in price of property will be the hit to investors who have increasingly been investing in the property market rather than savings due to low interest rates. This further reduction in interest rates will put greater pressure on investors to look elsewhere for a reasonable return on their money resulting in purchasers being available in the market place but unwilling to offer the prices currently being asked, leading sadly to the inevitable fall in house prices which has now been forecast for the coming 12 months.
On the other hand, the news is not all bad as the cost of mortgages will fall for the time being.
Whilst a number of first time buyers have fixed rate products and therefore will not benefit from a further reduction in interest rates, those who have tracker mortgages will gain as the interest rate on their product follow the movements in the Bank Base Rate. Those borrowers looking for new mortgages may find that the fixed rate products offered by the financial institutions will also become more competitive as lower fixed rates may be offered, but again this will depend entirely on the confidence that the banks and building societies may have with regard to future interest rates.
The uncertainty following the ‘Brexit’ vote may well result in the banks and building societies electing to err on the cautious as ever and not pass on the reduction in the Bank Base Rate to new borrowers as they fear that such a short-term incentive on the part of the Bank of England may not prove successful in the long term with interest rates having to rise should the country face greater financial hardship as a result of the vote.
I have just discovered that the house I bought three years ago has subsidence. We had a full survey carried out before we bought and this was not spotted. I am insured but will have to pay a hefty excess for the repairs. Can I make a claim against anyone for this oversight?
YOU need to obtain an independent report from a Building Surveyor or Structural Engineer to establish whether or not the problem existed at the time you bought. A building surveyor will advise as to whether or not your surveyor should have identified any tell-tale signs that should have been picked up in an ordinary homebuyers or structural survey. If the Report is favourable, then you may have a claim against your surveyor for professional negligence. You should seek the advice of a solicitor specialising in professional negligence. You should also investigate the possibility of the problem being covered by your building’s insurance policy as this may be an easier and more direct way of recovering the cost of the remedial works. In the event of a successful insurance claim, you may still have the right to claim any uninsured losses direct from your surveyor, such as any excess, should you be able to prove negligence. As with all such litigation the cost of pursuing it must be weighed up against the overall cost of the works.
MY neighbour is having the outside of his house painted to put on the market and mine is looking very tatty next to it. He says the state of my property is now affecting the value of his and has asked me to get mine repainted. He is threatening me with his solicitors. Can he do this?
NO he cannot. If your property is very dilapidated due to lack of maintenance then the only remedies available to your neighbour would be a local authority enforcement notice declaring the property to be in a dangerous state which would require you to carry out urgent repair works for health and safety reasons, or action by an estate owner who may have the benefit of a restrictive covenant for repair should you live on a development where all properties are subject to various covenants including an obligation to keep the property in a good state of repair, and to decorate the exterior of the property, say, every five years.
I am considering buying a boat, but the only place I can keep it during the winter months is in the front garden in full view of the neighbours. Will I need Planning Permission for this?
The first thing you need to establish is whether your property is subject to any restrictive covenant preventing you from placing or storing a boat on your property. Many properties are subject to covenants or restrictions preventing the storing of anything other than domestic vehicles on their properties.
Planning Permission is not mandatory in such circumstances, but you will be well advised to check with the local authority planning department first in order to ensure there is no objection. If you can fence around the area where the boat will be stored then this very often helps in appeasing the neighbours, who can see that you are making efforts to consider them by screening what many may regard as an eyesore.
As with all potential planning related issues it would be courteous to discuss this with your neighbours to establish that they have no objection to your storing the boat on your property. Even if there was a restriction on the title preventing you from doing so, it is less likely to be enforced if you have the support and backing of your neighbours. After all, breaches of covenant are often raised directly as a result of objections received from neighbours who are often subject to similar restrictions.
In my Tenancy Agreement there is a clause stating that if I wish to terminate the agreement and move out, I will still have to pay my landlord until a new tenant is found. Is this lawful?
All residential short-term Tenancy Agreements granted for a fixed term of at least six months, but not exceeding 12 months, are deemed to be Assured Shorthold Tenancies. These fixed term tenancies ensure that both the landlord and tenant are committing to a fixed period of a minimum of six months and a maximum of 12 months.
Should you wish to terminate this agreement before the end of the fixed term you may well have to pay your landlord rent for the balance of the agreed contractual term of the Tenancy Agreement unless your landlord can find an alternative tenant to take the premises within that period, in which case the landlord may, but is not obliged to, release you from the terms of your Tenancy Agreement before the end of the fixed term.
If you continue to occupy beyond the fixed term period specified in the Agreement then the Agreement can be terminated by either party giving the other notice to terminate as specified in the Agreement. Provided these notice periods are adhered to then you will be free to leave. Any Tenancy Agreement containing such a term stating that you are obliged to continue to pay rent until an alternative tenant is found for the property is not only unusual, but would probably be unenforceable and considered to be an Unfair Contract Term in so far as it relate to a period beyond the fixed term of the tenancy. The position should be easily clarified by talking to your solicitor.
My partner and I have made an offer on a house which has been accepted and we would due to exchange contracts next week. She has now said it is too soon for us to live together but I can’t afford to buy on my own. Can we walk away from this, or is it too late?
Fortunately, it is not too late as you may withdraw from any transaction prior to contracts being unconditionally exchanged. Despite your being virtually on the point of exchanging contracts, it is possible for either party to withdraw from the transaction. You are, therefore, free to withdraw without any obligation to indemnify the seller for any of his abortive costs or for any inconvenience caused.
A late withdrawal like this often infuriates the innocent party as they have no recourse to make any claim for the recovery of their abortive costs. All you can do is apologise to the seller for your late withdrawal, which is due to a change in your personal circumstances which are clearly beyond your control.