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Should I buy a house again in the UK

Should I buy a house again in the UK

Old Jan 2nd 2017, 11:47 am
  #16  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Brains1983
Yup, as Meow mentioned, roughly 30%.

I'm looking at a property in Aberdeen right now. Valued at 180k, likely to get it for 164k

Deposit (25%): 41,0000 GBP
Valuation Report: 173 GBP
Home Buyer Report: 383 GBP
Building Survey: 695 GBP
Stamp Duty: 380 GBP
Additional Stamp Duty (Overseas Buyer): 4,920 GBP
Soliciter Fees: 1,500 GBP - Estimated
Search Fees: 350 GBP - Estimated

Refusing to have any of the above tagged onto the mortgage, so that's an upfront total of 49,401 GBP required in cash.

On a purchase price of 164,000 GBP, that's 30.3%.

B
Hi Brains,


Can I ask , if you're buying, why are you paying for a Home Report? The seller should have this in place for prospective buyers.
Building Survey is also expensive, usually 250 and I have never heard of or paid an additional stamp duty for being non resident? my search fees were 70GBP from memory so your costs are on the high side - have you shopped around?

Last edited by Shawlands; Jan 2nd 2017 at 12:15 pm.
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Old Jan 2nd 2017, 12:09 pm
  #17  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Meow
That's not right. We arrange UK mortgages for UAE resident expats every week. Your overseas income can be taken into consideration. It's a different market but you just have to know what you're doing.

I suspect that whoever you spoke to isn't used to dealing with expats as it's a different market and most high street lenders can't/won't help. We have a large panel of lenders though and provided people meet the criteria (min deposit of 25%, min purchase price of GBP 150,000, min loan GBP 100,000 and income to service properly) it shouldn't be an issue.

Hi Meow,


for my HSBC mortgage, I paid an 18% deposit, property value and loan well over 150k. I did have to have a 15 minute chat with their AML manager on why funds had just been sitting in the account and not invested elsewhere, if I was cynical I would say it was probably an opportunity to set up a chat with an investment advisor.


Once that was over, their biggest worry was whether to update my current address to the new property or my Saudi address! I cant recommend them enough, this was a simple walk-in where I half expected a short conversation ending with 'sorry, cant help' but instead was wrapped up. Given how much issues others seem to have, I do feel as if I robbed the place.
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Old Jan 2nd 2017, 1:32 pm
  #18  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Shawlands
Hi Brains,


Can I ask , if you're buying, why are you paying for a Home Report? The seller should have this in place for prospective buyers.
Building Survey is also expensive, usually 250 and I have never heard of or paid an additional stamp duty for being non resident? my search fees were 70GBP from memory so your costs are on the high side - have you shopped around?
Sounds as if you are not familiar with the changes in Stamp Duty that took place in April 2016.
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Old Jan 2nd 2017, 2:42 pm
  #19  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Brains1983
Yup, as Meow mentioned, roughly 30%.

I'm looking at a property in Aberdeen right now. Valued at 180k, likely to get it for 164k

Deposit (25%): 41,0000 GBP
Valuation Report: 173 GBP
Home Buyer Report: 383 GBP
Building Survey: 695 GBP
Stamp Duty: 380 GBP
Additional Stamp Duty (Overseas Buyer): 4,920 GBP
Soliciter Fees: 1,500 GBP - Estimated
Search Fees: 350 GBP - Estimated

Refusing to have any of the above tagged onto the mortgage, so that's an upfront total of 49,401 GBP required in cash.

On a purchase price of 164,000 GBP, that's 30.3%.

B
Some thoughts from me...

House prices in Aberdeen fell 7% last year, ouch, not sure if they have bottomed out yet. Buy between the two rivers for easy access to the city and to avoid the worst of the traffic congestion.

Check if the 'Additional Dwelling Supplement' applies to your transaction. Keep an eye on Council Tax rises, up to 20% increases for more expensive properties from April. Be aware of your Capital Gains Tax liability on any increase in property price.

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Old Jan 2nd 2017, 5:56 pm
  #20  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Shawlands
Hi Brains,


Can I ask , if you're buying, why are you paying for a Home Report? The seller should have this in place for prospective buyers.
Building Survey is also expensive, usually 250 and I have never heard of or paid an additional stamp duty for being non resident? my search fees were 70GBP from memory so your costs are on the high side - have you shopped around?
Purely investigatory at the moment, pulled the charges of the HSBC Expat website. They arent a huge deal by any means.

The 3% applies to any second house purchase in the UK or any purchase made from outside the UK. Changed earlier this year.
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Old Jan 2nd 2017, 5:59 pm
  #21  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Johnnyboy11
Some thoughts from me...

House prices in Aberdeen fell 7% last year, ouch, not sure if they have bottomed out yet. Buy between the two rivers for easy access to the city and to avoid the worst of the traffic congestion.

Check if the 'Additional Dwelling Supplement' applies to your transaction. Keep an eye on Council Tax rises, up to 20% increases for more expensive properties from April. Be aware of your Capital Gains Tax liability on any increase in property price.

Thanks, I think.
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Old Jan 3rd 2017, 4:49 am
  #22  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Brains1983
Thanks, I think.
Have a friend who's just put 2 places on the market in Aberdoom. One's a house and the others an apartment. Can get the links if you are interested.
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Old Jan 3rd 2017, 5:54 am
  #23  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Brains1983
Thanks, I think.
Info on CGT liabilities here: https://financialuae.me/2015/03/18/u...operty-owners/
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Old Jan 3rd 2017, 6:15 am
  #24  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Brains1983
Purely investigatory at the moment, pulled the charges of the HSBC Expat website. They arent a huge deal by any means.

The 3% applies to any second house purchase in the UK or any purchase made from outside the UK. Changed earlier this year.

Thanks, aware of the second home 3% but must have missed 3% for any purchases made outside the UK.


so would that not be a total of 6% due if you already have a primary home and are non resident?
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Old Jan 3rd 2017, 6:20 am
  #25  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Shawlands
Thanks, aware of the second home 3% but must have missed 3% for any purchases made outside the UK.


so would that not be a total of 6% due if you already have a primary home and are non resident?
It is calculated per property depending on the value. Info here: https://financialuae.me/2015/11/26/u...ts-for-expats/
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Old Jan 3rd 2017, 7:12 am
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Shawlands
Thanks, aware of the second home 3% but must have missed 3% for any purchases made outside the UK.


so would that not be a total of 6% due if you already have a primary home and are non resident?
No, it doesn't double up. Basically, if you are non resident, you are not able to purchase a primary residence and avoid the 3%. You would pay the same 3% as someone that is in the UK would on a second property. It's on a scale as Meow has pointed out, the figures I quoted were specific to the property I was looking at.
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Old Jan 3rd 2017, 7:14 am
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by jam25mack
Have a friend who's just put 2 places on the market in Aberdoom. One's a house and the others an apartment. Can get the links if you are interested.
just investigating/budgeting right now. Will be towards the middle of year before we do anything. If at all, buying a buy to let from overseas doesn't appear to be the best use of cash right now if my calculations are correct for income/outgoings.
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Old Jan 15th 2017, 2:33 pm
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by bluebossa
Hi there,
Wondered if you could share your thoughts. Here is our dilemma.

We sold up last year in the UK and are now UAE residents renting and working in Dubai.

Debating now whether to Buy a house again or just save hard and lock the money up?

Should we have a house in the UK, we do intend to return someday or should we just rent and save

We are in our 50s.
Further...
Should we take out a Mortgage to buy something decent or use some cash to buy something small like an Apartment?

Your thoughts would be welcome.

Been in Dubai 18 months now. Work in Consulting for Digital projects.
I hope you won't mind me offering my tuppence worth ...

We are also in our 50s

I've worked overseas (in different countries, short-term and long-term) since 2003. My latest assignment has me working in Saudi Arabia, where I've been for over a year.

Our circumstances are slightly different ...but we were asking the same question. We did, however come up with a few other options.

Don't feel obliged to answer these questions here publicly on the forum - but consider the following:

Why do you want to return to the UK?
For most people it's either to be close to family or because of the familiarity of their home country (again, don't feel obliged to answer here)


How set are you on one particular location?

e.g. London, Liverpool, Leeds


If you are keen to move to one specific location - why?

Again, the proximity of family members can be a major factor ...but so can property prices

In our case, we started asking other questions and coming up with other options, such as ...

Why restrict ourselves to the UK?
How about Spain or Italy or France or Thailand?

Rather than try to decide on one, we came up with a list of criteria for our retirement destination, regardless of where it would be. Things like ...

Good public transport links
Flights to and from the UK all year round
Good weather
Friendly locals
Somewhere with character / not too built up
Classy, not brassy
Availability of fresh produce / markets / supermarkets nearby
Cheaper cost of living (where our money could go further)
Excellent healthcare services (very important as we get older)

This isn't the full list but I thought it might give you something else to consider.

After a lot of research online, we identified an area on the southern coast of Spain that ticked all the boxes and a lot more besides. We contacted local agents and went over for a week to view properties, eventually finding the perfect one.

The only way to really get a feel for / know an area is to spend time there and work out the practicalities of day-to-day living there.

We rented the apartment for 12 months and got to spend quite a bit of time there individually and as a couple.

During the summer months we rented it (with the blessing of the owner) to family, friends and trusted friends of friends. These 12 weeks of rental paid for the rest of the year.

Not sure that we'll buy just yet but thinking outside the box has certainly paid off!
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Old Jan 16th 2017, 1:16 pm
  #29  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Brains1983
just investigating/budgeting right now. Will be towards the middle of year before we do anything. If at all, buying a buy to let from overseas doesn't appear to be the best use of cash right now if my calculations are correct for income/outgoings.
B2L just isn't worth it for a UK expat, Osbourne has seen to that. In Scotland you'd pay 8% LBT Tax on the purchase price of a £250k apartment, get zero tax relief on your mortgage payments and be exposed to Capital Gains Tax on any subsequent property price appreciation. My plans to buy a apartment for the kids to use whilst at Uni. went out the window. Spiteful, vindictive man.

There are better ways of getting UK property exposure (property funds, equities etc.) where you aren't 8% underwater from day one.
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Old Jan 16th 2017, 4:16 pm
  #30  
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Default Re: Should I buy a house again in the UK

Originally Posted by Johnnyboy11
B2L just isn't worth it for a UK expat, Osbourne has seen to that. In Scotland you'd pay 8% LBT Tax on the purchase price of a £250k apartment, get zero tax relief on your mortgage payments and be exposed to Capital Gains Tax on any subsequent property price appreciation. My plans to buy a apartment for the kids to use whilst at Uni. went out the window. Spiteful, vindictive man.

There are better ways of getting UK property exposure (property funds, equities etc.) where you aren't 8% underwater from day one.
Same in many countries now sadly.
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