Stamp duty refunds: a huge opportunity for buyers & referral partners

SCA Tax advisory teaches Andrew Stanton a lot about SDLT and how many are overpaying it  

I have been in the property sector for 40 years, and as an analyst, journalist editor and for over 30 years an estate agent, I pride myself on knowing all there is to know about property assets. But proving every day is a school day, I recently had a meeting with someone who is clever than me, Sean Swimby of SCA Tax, who told me a lot of things I did not know and I am guessing that a lot of other key people do not know either.

First off until Sean told me, I did not realise that property traders, a company or partnership that carries out the business of buying and selling properties, when buying a probate property from a deceased estate can pay nil SDLT if they meet a certain criteria.

This amazed me,  as I know that 10% of all completions a year are probates, and whilst investors/buying companies or even landlords who have a company framework, may not specifically target probate properties, they must from time to time but in a probate, either by private treaty via an estate agent, or by auction etc.

I asked Sean is there was a limitation as to how long you could claim back SDLT on these probate purchases, and again new information, it was four years. Surely then there must be people who are reading this who fall into this category?

Sean also said he has many companies who buy probate properties and sell them on, saying that players who do 10 or more of these a year could be saving an absolute fortune.

I said, ‘Surely the solicitor of the accountants who work for these companies must know all about this potential refund?’ to which Sean said that solicitors and accountants do a great job, but are not specialists in this area, often going to a government website to check SDLT allowances, ensuring the client is compliant, but often they do not know the legal exceptions that mean clients are paying too much.

Sean (pictured) then said that SCA Tax offers a free service to evaluate if a potential client can successfully claim back or avoid at point of purchase the SDLT amount, as he put it,

‘Step one is the Initial Assessment, a potential client contacts us for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll review their portfolio and provide initial expert feedback. Step two our SCA tax experts, once instructed will calculate the potential savings and file an application with HMRC for an adjustment, if applicable. And step three is the HMRC Decision, once HMRC have reviewed our submission, we will write to the client with the outcome of our application and any savings achieved.’   

Read the article in full

---

---

Accucities partnering with architects to shape the future skyline of the City of London

Read the article in full

---

Why we set up Roome?

The best businesses are born when founders set out to solve a problem they faced themselves – Owen Redman  

In the past eight years I have talked to over 1,300 founders and critiqued over 600 decks, and Roome who we fully endorse have that hard to put your finger on it quality that has so often turned a young company into a large company, on a recent call with Co-Founder Owen Redman I asked him just why he spent every day in the trenches building his company, instead of getting a ‘proper’ job.

Owen Redman (pictured), ‘‘During university, we struggled with housing: mismatched flatmates, rushed decisions, and the stress of finding a decent place on a student budget. These experiences led us to create Roome, a platform that simplifies the housing journey for students everywhere. But we’re not alone in this approach.’

‘Businesses became a success because the founders truly understood the pain points of their users. At Roome, our mission is to make the student experience better, starting with housing. We believe when students find the right place and the right people, everything else gets easier.’

‘Many companies focus on growth and revenue, which of course are key, but Roome focuses on the UX for the students, this is the core, if the service has a sticky usefulness then a business will scale.’

‘We realised that ‘the traditional business model of higher education is evolving. Institutions can no longer rely solely on rising tuition among traditional students as the primary revenue source’ – Deloitte.  This shift was Roome’s genesis – to enhance student engagement and support, which in turn meant fewer students dropping out from their courses, increasing University revenue and heightening the academic experience.’

‘Though Roome is a comprehensive student engagement tool tailored specifically for universities. It also functions as a housing platform that connects students with suitable accommodation options and at the same time unlocks value for universities by using the Roome bespoke tools to enhance student engagement and streamline housing processes.’

‘Roome may not be the Behemoth that Airbnb is, but again it grew out of two founders and their duvets and a problem that faced them head on, and how they went on to solve it.’

Read the article in full

---