Andy Morley

So this is a question about Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on transfers of property. Capital Gains Tax and trusts also come into it. Q1. Has anyone managed to transfer properties from an 'active partnership' (properties held in joint names) into a limited company and then gone on to claim back the extra 3% SDLT successfully? Q2. Has anyone transferred properties or part-shares of a property to one of their children and if so, can they confirm that SDLT is not liable if no payment is given in return? Q3. Has anyone done a transfer of property to a trust they have set up for their children and what are the pitfalls there? I've just read the thread about Limited Companies in this forum and I too wish I had put my properties into a limited company when I bought them. My properties have about doubled in value over the past 10 years which seems like a nice problem to have, until you realise that anything else I might want to buy will have gone up by an equivalent amount too and meanwhile, I will loose a substantial chunk of that value increase in Capital Gains Tax. I haven't made any capital gains elsewhere this year (surprise, surprise) so I want to use up some of our £12.3K allowance which is £24.6 for both of us. Our property portfolio is the obvious place to do that. I could transfer them piecemeal into a limited company, which would take a fair few years as I could only transfer part-shares of each property to avoid triggering CGT, so I have to ask if it's worth the hassle, given all the other issues, particularly the extra 3% stamp duty land tax. As they are in joint names there is in theory a possibility of claiming back the extra SDLT as my wife and I are 'active partners' and would be transferring to a jointly-owned limited company if we went that route. It does sound like an awful lot of complication though. Then, there's also the likely return of regular stamp-duty to think about after the current 'holiday' ends, plus anything else that Rishi Sunak or his successors might do at some stage so I can't help think we would be holding ourselves hostage to fortune during that lengthy period when some of our portfolio was in the limited company, some was outside and some was 'halfway there'. A bit like a hermit crab, leaving one shell to find a bigger one, so I can't help thinking that there must be a better way. We could start to transfer shares of properties to one of our children which would have the additional benefit of reducing our Inheritance Tax liability (IHT), provided we survive for seven more years. The straight transfer of a share of a property seems simple enough, three forms to fill from the Land Registry (AP1, TR1 and either ID1 or ID3 plus a £40 fee). But what about if we wanted to transfer it into a trust for one or more of them? A 'Bare Trust' would seem to be the best bet from an IHT perspective, so am I right in thinking there would be no SDLT liability there? This is what I've picked up from the gov.uk site. But are there any complications here for the Land Registry transfer if I put it into a trust? What would I put on the transfer form? Thanks in anticipation!

I'll take a look at the questionnaire that the seller completed. Presumably there is a statute of limitations on this, would it be 7 years?

Thanks for replies from everyone. In response to questions about the past/ acquisition of the property, our solicitors did not highlight this issue as far as I am aware. In any case we are where we are. Does anyone know if I can ask the other property owners to contribute to the cost of replacing the supply across my land, given that all their water flows through my pipework and has undoubtedly contributed to the wear and tear that caused this old lead pipe to split? I've dug it up, wrapped it round with Denzo and jubilee clips but obviously it needs fixed.

I own two mid-terrace properties divided into 4 flats, on either side of my flats there are four other properties, some also subdivided - 7 further households in total plus my four. I have a single stopcock and water supply for all my flats and three other freeholds (5 households) piggy-back off my supply. The pipework traversing my land is a mix of lead, copper and plastic, all bodged together and I've got a leak - not the first. What is the legal position - surely there should be a single supply for each flat? Severn Trent is the water company, what if I notify them and the other property owners that since there is no wayleave agreement between us, they have 3 months to arrange a direct supply for their properties after which I will cap off the pipe through my land? That would leave me with one supply for my four flats but without the problem of other households complaining when I have to turn the water off. Does anyone here have any experience of shared water issues? Thanks, A.M.