House Swap

Hi all,

Hoping that someone might be able to help me out here with some information so here goes;

We've been trying to sell our house for almost a year but to no avail, recently we've had a couple approach us offering a house swap, this other couple's property is in the area we are looking to move to so obviously we're very interested in swap. Has anyone ever heard of a house swap going ahead successfully or is it just a pipe dream? What happens in relation to stamp duty & mortgages?

Any advice very much appreciated!!

We queried something similar while trying to trade up some years ago, in our case it fell through.

Our solicitor advised; of course it can be done, but we would be buying and selling as would the other couple, so usual legal fees and expenses etc. would apply to both parties.

The relevant Stamp duty would also apply to both purchases at market value of each house.

So no savings there.

We would have to discharge our current mortgage in full, and then take a new mortgage for the higher amount on the new property, obviously we would have needed our banks approval for this.

Bearing the above in mind, if they have what you want, and you have what they want, and purchase prices for both can be agreed, then both parties could achieve their objective, to sell and buy, it might be worth looking into further.