Stamp Duty, or Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to give it the correct name, is a tax paid when you buy a property. SDLT is charged at increasing rates depending upon the purchase price; if your property purchase is an additional residence to your main home (a holiday home or buy to let investment for example) you will usually have to pay a further 3% SDLT on top. Different rules apply if you are buying your first home and it is priced at £500,000 or less.
If you want to work out your Stamp Duty Land Tax liabilities, please follow this link to the HMRC calculator for Stamp Duty Land Tax: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro
Rates for residential properties if you have bought a home before:
| Up to £125,000 | Zero |
| The next £125,000 (the portion from £125,001 to £250,000) | 2% |
| The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) | 5% |
| The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) | 10% |
| The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) | 12% |
Listings normally protect the entire building both inside and out and any structures which are either attached to the building or fall within its curtilage to sometimes include garden walls, outbuildings and even cobble stones within the garden.
If you are considering purchasing a listed building or one that is situated within a conservation area, be aware that altering or demolishing a listed building without the relevant consent can attract serious penalties and, in some cases, even a prison sentence! The listing of a building ensures that its architectural and historical interest is considered carefully before any alterations are agreed and the local Conservation Officer will become one of your most important contacts.
The purchase of any house can present challenges from time to time but there are particular issues to be aware of when buying a listed building. In our experience using a local solicitor and surveyor who are familiar with listed buildings really can make the whole process significantly more relaxed.
| GRADE I | Buildings are of exceptional interest, only 2.5% of listed buildings are Grade I |
| GRADE II* | Buildings are particularly important and of more than special interest, 5.5% of listed buildings are Grade II* |
We are fortunate to have a wide selection of historic buildings in the area that we cover, many of which are listed. If you want to discover more about listings or if you want to find out if a property is listed, please follow this link to the Historic England website: http://list.historicengland.org.uk/mapsearch.aspx
Architectural styles and dates
| Medieval | Before 1485 |
| Tudor | 1485 – 1558 |
| Elizabethan | 1558 – 1603 |
| Jacobean | 1603 – 1630 |
| Early Stuart | 1630 – 16b |
| William&Mary / Queen Anne | 1690 – 1715 |
| Georgian (includes Baroque and Palladian) | 1715 – 1790 |
| Regency | 1790 – 1837 |
| Victorian | 1837 – 1901 |
| Edwardian | 1901 – 1914 |
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) shows the energy performance of a dwelling along with recommendations on how to improve it. An EPC is required whenever a building is constructed, sold or rented and is valid for 10 years.
Vendors and Landlords must make an EPC available to any interested parties at the earliest opportunity and a copy must be given to the successful buyer or tenant. As agents, we must ensure that an EPC has at the very least been commissioned before we can begin marketing and we must show the EPC rating in all our advertisements.
In April 2020 new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) were brought in by the Government in relation to the letting of residential and non-domestic property. These measures were aimed at encouraging landlords and property owners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties by preventing the granting of tenancies where the property has an EPC rating below E. There are however situations where an EPC is not required or where certain exemptions can be applied for in relation to MEES. For more information about EPC’s or to view all the EPC's stored on the government database please click on the following link: https://find-energy-certificate.digital.communities.gov.uk/
Should you require an EPC, Eden Midcalf have our own in house assessor and we would be delighted to assist.
During the course of your property journey you will need to employ the services of various other professionals, to include conveyancers, financial advisers, surveyors, removal firms and maybe even an architect or builder.
Over the years we have established good working relationships within all these sectors and we are happy to recommend their services to you. We only recommend firms that are local to our community and that we would use ourselves, which in many cases we have! In return for these recommendations, we may receive a referral fee, but it is essential to understand that the payment of these fees does not affect the cost of their services to you. These firms are happy to pay us referral fees as it greatly reduces their marketing costs in having clients recommended directly by agents like ourselves.
At Eden Midcalf we believe in complete transparency, so if you have any questions concerning any of the above then please feel free to get in touch.
