[scarlettoara]

stamp duty should be a gradual increase, not a 3% jump, its just ridiculous.
when we bought our place for £260k, our solicitor juggled a few things so we paid £10k on "moveables", not sure what that meant but im guessing gates, fencing etc?? and £250k on the house  but it meant we didnt pay the xtra stamp duty.
my friend bought his farm and paid for the land and house separately on separate deeds to stay under stamp duty threshold. its worth talking to the solicitor if you are buying land as many sellers will sell it separately to the house if required.

[Lesley Silvester]

HMRC are getting wise to the tricks though.  When we bought our house just over six years ago we had to state what, if anything, we had bought from the vendors, such as carpets, curtains, and how much we had paid for them.  We were under the limit for stamp duty but the solicitor said everyone has to answer these questions now.