Owning your own home

Pink or GTFO.
Upstairs bathroom also going to go pink.
Another house on our road sold, and not to you (although we expect them to pull out as they have been in movies and its prob too povo around here for them), you're dragging your heals a bit...

2nd.

When we had our bedroom lime plastered one wall was sloping quite significantly, the plasterer put up some breathable wood fibre board on the upper part of the wall then plastered over.
Walls are built in random stone.
It's still not 90deg but we don't care, probably wouldn't have cared if they plastered straight onto it! But we have our wardrobe against that wall so probably nice to have it more towards vertical than not

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Is Northern Ireland always such good value? It looks really well placed for Belfast.

I'm now getting specialist plasterers in to quote, who will do the place properly using lime.

Cheap =/= Value. I think you'd need a particular set of circumstances for it to = Value. I am fortunate enough that I've had a good job in London and own my flat here. If I had never left NI, then that house would be unattainable for me. As it stands for me now, I could probably move there and be mortgage free before I'm 40. Also, my company having an office in Belfast makes it even better, for me.

That particular location is a bit shit too to be honest. Unless you want to live slightly isolated and next to the "sea" (it's a tidal inlet, albeit a pretty big one). The nearest town is close, but it's shit. If we are going to be in long and protracted periods of lockdown, then that house is perfect. The outbuilding could be converted to an annex and family could come and visit in responsible manner, etc. Plus, treehouses for mini_com.

This one is cheaper, needs less work and/but is closer to a better town. Even better located for Belfast due to there being a trainline to that town. The other one only has bus routes (or there's the car, which everyone in NI uses anyway).

https://www.propertypal.com/4-the-elms-bangor/640929

I have finally found a plot of land for which the owner has not flat out said no to the possibility of selling it.

The issue is that she will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the sale. In this area, I have little to no knowledge. I'm wondering whether it'd be best to contact an accountant or solicitor? One idea is that we would cover the CGT in the overall offer but this is dependent on her asking price.

That looks as if it's about six miles from Donaghadee. :)

2nd.

Interesting, I wonder if it was planned that way when they started building or whether the ceiling of the belle étage was raised subsequently.

I am not a tax advisor, but I believe it works like this:

If it's not a primary residence CGT is due from the seller when they make a profit. It applies only to the profit between their original purchase price and the sale price, and is taxed at 28% (residential property) or 20% (all other assets). If this is land and not a house, then it should be 20%.

https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax/rates

So... if you're offering to pay and she bought for £150k and is selling at £200k, £50k is profit and becomes taxable at 20%, so £10k (20% of £50k) is due as CGT tax that the seller must pay to HMRC. But... CGT is only applicable above an allowance https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax/allowances and the allowance is £12.3k so in fact... no tax to pay.

With that in mind and if you can find the original price that they acquired the land for... and determine whether or not the land would be considered residential property (is there a house on it?). With those things you should be able to calculate the ballpark of the tax that she would be facing, and then be informed about whether you could be in a position to offer to cover or not.

It depends how straightforward it is. If she just bought the land, did nothing to it and then sold it to you then it's easy for you to calculate.

If it's part of a bigger parcel of land, money has been spent on it, etc then it's more complicated and you may need professional advice.

Similarly, is she doing a straightforward PAYE job or are there other things that will give rise to CGT. E.g. selling land/properties/shares/bitcoin. Are you going to get the benefit of her personal allowance?

Does she already have someone do a tax return for her? If so that would probably be the best person to speak to (she'd need to give permission).

But looks tiny.

Watching with interest.

I battened & boarded, then skinned with gypsum plaster.

Straight walls with the added benefit of more insulation & ventilation, but a little less space

The issue is that she will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the sale. In this area, I have little to no knowledge.

You don't need to acquire knowledge on this, it's a distraction - offer her a fair price for the land, if she declines, offer to pay more until she agrees or just walk. Her CGT calculation is by the by really, only she knows what she'll sell for and what she considers value. Likewise the same for you.

@Velocio @aggi Thank you for your insights. The land is a portion of a garden. I know she owns a few properties but I vaguely recall her saying that this was listed as her primary residence.

I need to find out how the land would be valued. She paid £180k for the house (and land) in 2001. Would any profit be based on this value or how much it would be valued today? £500k according to Zoopla.

Well... this is for her to figure out. She needs a conveyancer to do this work, which you could offer to pay for to move it along. I doubt she'd have CGT to pay if she hasn't sold other property this tax year as a garden isn't going to be the majority value of the £500k house and garden.

What are the 2020 feelings on Catford (@amey ?) from a 'nice place to live' point of view?

Now we're looking at 3 beds, within some... radius of where we current are (SE21), penge looks.. not great if the internet is to be believe..

Land in the UK is an odd thing. If you can't do anything with it then it's not worth anything really, just what someone is willing to pay. I bought the mews (in NW6) on which my house stands for £7500, and a neighbour bought a stretch of driveway for £5000.

If it is development land - i.e. it can have planning permission then it would be more valuable, and there may be more local examples to help you arrive at a price, but again really its up to you and the seller to agree a price you're both happy with.

Come have a wander, i can make you a socially distant flat white. Cycling is mandatory. And along with @6pt @Sparky and @7ven trolling the anti-cycling nimbys on FB groups also mandatory.

You can get a decent sized victorian terrace possibly for £500k.

One just down the road went on market: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82149220.html

£800k fuck me.

why do you say cycling is mandatory, theres a few train lines that seem ok?

Yeah, I as kidding, just want more "cyclists" innit. Hither Green is getting step free access I hear.

Lol innit.

Well. Catford is the new Balham.