marknh

Hello folks

so this isnt moving back permanantly from canada to the uk- but we want to purchase a small home there so we can visit for a few months of the year,, Has anyone else done this. Thanks

spouse of scouse

Hi. There are a few things to be aware of when considering if this is a good financial move for you.

If you already own a property in Canada (or anywhere else in the world), then you'll need to pay a higher rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax on purchase of an additional residential property in England or Northern Ireland (I don't know the rules for Wales and Scotland). From 1 October 2021 these higher rates begin at an additional 3% for properties valued up to 125,000 pounds, with incremental rises up to 13% for properties valued over 925,000 pounds. The higher rate is applicable whether or not the additional residential property buyer resides in the UK. .
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stamp-du...ntial-property

Also, as a non-UK resident, you'll also need to pay a Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge of 2% higher than a UK resident would pay - again this is applicable to the purchase of a residential property in England or Northern Ireland.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-of...n-uk-residents

So that's a minimum of 5% additional Stamp Duty Land Tax to pay if the property you purchase is in England or Northern Ireland.

Some other things to factor into your decision.
Council Tax - you usually have to pay Council tax on unoccupied or second properties, some Councils may offer a discount and some may charge you extra tax on an unoccupied home. See here for more info
https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/secon...pty-properties

Other things to consider are whether or not you have someone to keep an eye on the property, make sure the pipes don't freeze in winter, that the property hasn't been damaged, broken into or illegally occupied. Also insurance is more expensive for a home that's unoccupied.

I hope that helps a bit, I know it all sounds a bit negative but it all needs to be considered.

robin1234

I did this in 2015. My choice was to buy a small, inexpensive two bed, two bath flat in a block of ten flats. It is leasehold, so there’s a ground rent and a service charge to pay each year. I’ve randomly gone back and forth each year, but it has approximately worked out as four month stints in each place. (Unfortunately disrupted by Covid, I’ve been stuck in America for over a year.)

By getting a leasehold lock up and leave property, I’ve avoided a lot of the hassles. No lawn to mow. Being on the second floor of a modern block, I’ve assumed that frozen pipes shouldn’t be a problem. (Norfolk is mild, and there’s background heat seeping in from neighbors and the common stairwell.)

Ongoing costs are manageable. They are;
Electricity
Phone/internet
Water
Council tax
TV licence
Ground rent
Service charge

I was lucky with stamp duty, I bought the place a short time after stamp duty was drastically reduced for low-priced properties, and before the current regime of increased duties that SoS describes.

I have a neighbor empty my mailbox every month or so. She’ll put the mail in my flat, and just give a quick visual check at that time. I wouldn’t ask her to do any more, since she’s quite elderly. It just gives me a certain peace of mind, that she’d email me if she saw anything wrong.

Jerseygirl

We bought a house in Cheshire and sold it a few years later because it became too much of a headache. Worrying about things that could go wrong. It is also very expensive since as you will need to buy everything needed to live in the property. Depending on the location you may also need to buy a car, which is another headache when left for months on end. You will not be eligible to use the NHS as you will not be a UK resident.

mikelincs

Not too sure if you will be buying cash, or need a mortgage, if the latter the mortgage will be more difficult to obtain, and the repayments over a shorted period and at a higher rate.

robin1234

We chose not to buy a car. I guess the choices here are to buy in a location with good public transport (as our place in Norfolk is,) or to rent a car for a portion, or all, the time you’re in residence.

We chose to pay cash. There’s plenty of places in the UK where you can buy a very adequate flat for less than 150k. (Less than 80k, many places.)

As for buying stuff for the flat, we were amazed how little we spent on fully furnishing and equipping a two bedroom, 700 sq ft flat. We basically bought everything online from ikea and Marks & Spencer. It was a certainly less than we’d have paid in the US for items of a similar quality.

Bottom line for me; a flat is practicable in many ways, a house would’ve been much more problematic.