Job Offer Abroad - Stamp Duty Options

Hi,

Myself and my girlfriend are considering moving to Asia for a couple of years with our jobs. We bought a house this years as FTB's and due to the property being a new build and under 125sq m, we were exempt from stamp.

Our problem now is that we want to keep the property whilst we are away. We have looked into all options, and it seems we will be coughing up a hefty amount of cash no matter what we do. If we seek a moratorium on our mortgage and don't rent the property out while we are away (ask family member to mind), are we exempt from a Stamp Duty clawback?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Why would you not just keep a room in the house with your stuff in it and rent the other rooms out and just keep the rent below the 7,250 and just declare it under the rent a room scheme?

"Rent-a-room" scheme is only for owner-occupier. Gommer will not be occupier for couple of years so can not avail of the scheme.

Thought I read on another post that there might be some way around it if you are being transfered to a job abroad by your company. I could be wrong though

We are being transferred by our company, but previos discussions I have had with people would suggest there is no alternative (which seems incredibly unfair!), but would appreciate if you had further info around the previous post that stated something about this!