Buying property in Scotland?

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happyinnj
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:44 pm

Buying property in Scotland?

Post by happyinnj »

UK citizen, resident in US or elsewhere for entire adulthood and now interested in buying a (specific, on the market) property in Scotland. No UK bank account or "home" address. What should I do or know?
normaldude
Posts: 803
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:41 am

Re: Buying property in Scotland?

Post by normaldude »

I hope it's not one of those "Established Titles" scam, where internet scammers say that if you buy a small plot of land in Scotland, you are awarded an official title of "lord" or "lady".

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/h ... r-AA14EUaz

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/you ... -rcna59518

https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/04/ ... gifted-to-
Topic Author
happyinnj
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:44 pm

Re: Buying property in Scotland?

Post by happyinnj »

No! We've been watching UK (specifically Scotland) listings for awhile and this one matches our requirements. This is more a question about what we need to do to make an offer proceed to closing successfully.
MGBMartin
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Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:09 am

Re: Buying property in Scotland?

Post by MGBMartin »

Take a look at the British Expat Forum.
There maybe some advice there already if not I’m sure you can post in the applicable forum and get some good advice.
https://britishexpats.com/forum/
Bad spellers of the world untie | Autocorrect is my worst enema
Valuethinker
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Joined: Fri May 11, 2007 11:07 am

Re: Buying property in Scotland?

Post by Valuethinker »

happyinnj wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:18 pm No! We've been watching UK (specifically Scotland) listings for awhile and this one matches our requirements. This is more a question about what we need to do to make an offer proceed to closing successfully.
Scottish Law of Property is quite different from that applying to England and Wales. So make sure any source you consult is talking specifically about Scotland.

Having never bought a property in Scotland, I simply know it's a whole different set of rules. For example, in Scotland solicitors (lawyers) do the property sales as I understand it - in England, it's almost always done by a firm of estate agents.

I think Scotland follows a bidding system similar to how properties are marketed in North America. i.e. on a certain day everyone provides a firm and final bid. I don't know how the property survey works, then.

There will also be a whole question about Anti Money Laundering checks etc. If your funds are not coming via a UK bank, I really don't know how that works. People do buy property from offshore, so it must be possible.

Generally I would say that property in Scotland can sell fairly slowly. So one should not necessarily be in a hurry to bid. However if there is something unique about it. Also I imagine the market in Edinburgh or the more desirable parts of Glasgow would be more competitive. Generally in London right now things seem fairly slow, with prices even falling (a large number of mortgages will renew next year, at rates potentially double what they are right now).
Valuethinker
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Re: Buying property in Scotland?

Post by Valuethinker »

I might also suggest you post under the "non US investing" sub board here - it's not investing, per se, but it's more likely to catch the eye of someone familiar with the Scottish property market.
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Artsdoctor
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Re: Buying property in Scotland?

Post by Artsdoctor »

There's also some sort of property tax regarding second homes in Scotland although I'm not sure of the details. It might be under consideration and not enacted yet but the amount of tax is reported to be significant depending on the price of the property. You might want to just verify exactly what sort of taxes you will be paying and if there is any pending legislation that might go into effect before you settle.
Valuethinker
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Re: Buying property in Scotland?

Post by Valuethinker »

Artsdoctor wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 11:43 am There's also some sort of property tax regarding second homes in Scotland although I'm not sure of the details. It might be under consideration and not enacted yet but the amount of tax is reported to be significant depending on the price of the property. You might want to just verify exactly what sort of taxes you will be paying and if there is any pending legislation that might go into effect before you settle.
Generally compared to North America "council tax" is low (yes, there is some arrangement of a surcharge for 2nd homes, and Scotland is, again, somewhat different from England & Wales). However "Stamp Duty" SDRT ie property purchase tax, is quite high - easy to pay 5% or more (depending on value of property).

For example, I pay about 0.25% of the value of my home in property tax. However the Stamp Duty was unpleasant (since you have to finance that upfront).

If you google HMRC SDRT or Stamp Duty you should get a table of the rates applying.
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