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Buy of the week: Streatham Hill
On leafy Downton Avenue in SW2, plenty of family space can be yours for £550,000 at this Edwardian home. There are four bedrooms and a convertible loft space, and the open-plan kitchen/breakfast room has French windows to a good-size garden.
Swap of the week: Dalwood, Devon
Cosy up by woodburning stoves or cook a feast in the vaulted kitchen/breakfast room of this 18th-century thatch for £525,000. Three bedrooms overlook cottage gardens and a timber studio makes a perfect home office.
Life-changer: St Erth Praze, Cornwall
Tregenhorne Farm (£550,000) has four acres of paddocks, stables and valley views, minutes from Cornwall's north coast. You can run your own equestrian business from the garden office and the four-bedroom home has a country kitchen with an Aga.
Spotlight on Harpenden
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Property search
The sale of chattels
Our laywer, Fiona McNulty advises on the legal issues relating to the sale of chattels - the fixtures and fittings of a property - to save stamp duty
© Merrily Harpur
My solicitor says I cannot do this. Who is correct?
Answer: The sale of chattels, which are moveable items and therefore not fixtures, does not attract stamp duty. Fixtures are such things as fitted wardrobes.
Paying for fixtures and fittings separately is common practice where the value of the property or land and the chattels is just above one of the stamp duty thresholds, such as in your case.
The value of any chattels must not be over-inflated as this may amount to a fraud on HM Revenue & Customs, for which you and your solicitor could face criminal charges and any deal you struck in an attempt to cheat the taxman would be unenforceable.
The seller should provide a Form TA10, which is the fittings and contents form, and it is good practice for a copy of this to be attached to the contract. Any chattels for which you are paying extra in addition to the price of the property should be itemised and priced separately.
This list should also be annexed to the contract and the price to be paid for the chattels clearly shown. If you can truly show that the value of the fixtures and fittings is £10,000, then your solicitor will be able to agree to buy them separately from the seller’s solicitor. However, if you cannot do so, then your solicitor is quite right in advising you against such a deal.
What's your problem?
If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually.
Fiona is a partner in the property team at Thring Townsend Lee & Pembertons Solicitors www.ttuk.com.
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