Stamp Duty

I have tried my best to work this out and can't seem to work out whether I am liable or not. My solicitor reckons I will have to pay stamp duty maybe even up to 5%. But my parents bought a similar house to mine on 1/2 acre site for 317,000 and it will be owner occupier. They are selling their own house and they aren't been caught for any stamp duty. My situation is I am separated and I bought an apartment a year ago which I am now selling. My partner got his marriage annulled and we are buying the house together. The house will be owner occupier and square footage is approx 2100 and the cost of the house is 300,000 and the house is a dormer. My mother rang her solicitor this morning to make sure they hadn't made a mistake on their property and her solicitor was adamant that they don't have to pay stamp duty and I shouldn't either. My mothers solicitor rang a few other solicitors and they all agreed that we shouldn't have to pay. Both my house and my parents house are brand new houses. Can someone explain why I don't or do have to pay stamp duty and if I do how come my parents don't.

New builds under 1250 sq.ft. are exempt. Maybe your parents house comes under this bracket whereas yours does not(2100 sq.ft.) Your post suggests that both you and your parents bought exactly the same type of house, so unless yours is bigger, I don't see why they aren't being charged stamp duty. I found your post a little difficult to understand but I hope the above helps a little.

Sorry i can't give you exact details on this but there are more details involved than just the square footage on a new house. It also depends on the value of the site relative to the value of the house I think. We bought a new house over the square footage limit but weren't charged stamp duty. I think I've seen the actual details somewhere on the AAM site but can't remember where. Try doing a search for it.

Anything [broken link removed]


Extract from above link

New houses and apartments
Over Floor Area of 125 sq. m

New houses or apartments which are purchased by an owner occupier (including a first time buyer) where the total floor area exceeds 125 square metres are charged with duty, at the appropriate residential property rate as per the table above, on the site value (excluding VAT) or one quarter of the total value of the house including the site (excluding VAT), whichever is the greater, subject to clawback.The size of the floor area must be certified by a qualified architect, engineer or surveyor