As someone who used to have french residency, how would being added to a family members deed when they buy their home in France affect me?
I’m not a home owner and luckily not renting in the UK yet but will be in the next couple months. Will I have to pay extra tax (second house tax) even if I rent?
What are some things it’ll take away my chance of or make more difficult, straight away or in the future) because my name is on the deed?
Thanks in advance!
Well one thing for sure, you will always be liable in part for any taxes, debts and decisions on the property if you are to become a part owner. Not being a resident makes you liable for Taxe d’Habitation as its a holiday home and if you rent the place, you should make sure you have paperwork as proof you are paying your way and what other things you pay for as well as insurance on the place and protection from third parties. The big thing that comes into play eventually (or sooner sadly in some cases) will be succession and your rights with the other heirs. You do really need to see a Notaire to get this done legally and properly and protect your interests.
I’d suggest you ask a French Notaire to explain exactly what you will be liable for… before getting yourself “on the Deed”…
as Shiba says… Ownership brings Responsibilities, and not only Financial…
Not sure why the fact you used to live in France would make any difference to anything.
Firstly if you are not contributing to the purchase you should not be named as a part owner.
If you are sharing in the purchase the notaire will explain your responsibilities, the implications for inheritance etc.
Also bear in mind there may be implications on the UK side, eg if you own property in France I believe you will be ineligible for certain means tested benefits in the UK.
The last point may come to fruition if not already by whoever wins the GE and wants to claw money back from any source. The french fisc would have very strict rules on ownership by several people in case a fraud is committed too, the fisc have very long tentacles here and big noses for who owns what.
Not quite sure what you mean by « extra tax (second house tax) even if I rent ».
If you’re referring to the extra stamp duty payable when a buyer in the UK does not sell their existing primary residence (should there be a possibility you might buy in the future), then, no. Owning - or part-owning - a property in France or anywhere else that is not your primary residence would not make you liable to the extra stamp duty (should you decide in the future to buy). Your main residence would be your rental.
I did not understand that either. I wondered if it meant, do I have to pay tdh for owning a second home in France, if I live in rented accommodation in the uk and do not own a propeety there Obviously the answer is yes, because primary and seconary residence are not related to renting or owning. But, if the propertu is the primary residence of another person there will be no tdh to pay
But the situation is not clear at all.
Maybe they’ll come back and elaborate.
You’re probably right - they’re likely referring to Taxe d’habitation.
It’s always worth standing back, and sorting out the facts that matter.
As often happens, you have a jumble of thoughts that are worrying you. I think that - especially with a bit more information from you - we can help with that. But, as Stella says, you must have the advice of a notaire .
We can discard a couple of things straight away. The fact that you “used to have French residency” is neither here nor there. Next - UK law(s) on owning a second UK home relate to UK property. A ‘holiday home’ in the EU (or even just a share in one) is outside of the scope of UK law.
Next - you are not clear about the intended French purchase. What exactly does “their home in France” mean? It does not sound like a rental, if it is to be their ‘home’. So the complications of renting property in France do not apply.
Contrary to another comment, it is not necessary to ‘contribute to the purchase’ to be named as a part-owner. Nor do you have to be of the same family, so that relationship doesn’t matter either.
So that leaves us with the basics - although it would be nice to know a little more. It sounds to me that (since you propose to rent in UK and have available capital) that you are proposing to help a young member of your family to buy a property to live in, in France. Please correct me if I am wrong.
You want to secure this by being recorded as a part-owner in the ‘Acte du Vente’ (known in UK as a ‘Deed’) of the property. No problem.
This is where your questions really should start. What if/or when you die? What if/or when the ‘family member’ dies? What if you unexpectedly want your money out in the future, maybe you need it for yourself? - or fall out with ‘the family member’? As owner you will be held responsible for taxes, rubbish collection, water, electricity and so on, in the event of default of payment by ‘the family member’. What about when they decide to sell, who gets what? And who pays the costs?
These are things that you must discuss and decide upon before you sit in front of a notaire. Then you will get good advice.
Great advice. As regards the above, it’s probably not of much relevance in this case but just for the record: UK law on the stamp duty premium payable on second homes applies wherever in the world the person’s primary residence is located.
Property or savings abroad are assets and have to be declared to DWP as such, in situations when entitlement is assessed on assets.
They often know automatically. Just a year or two after buying our french home which was for holidays at the beginning, OH was called to the local Tax Office for an audit of the firm’s books. First thing they said was that they saw we had bought a french property and wanted to know how it had been paid for etc. They also had details of the ferry tickets and crossings made by both of us and the vehicles involved. This is no word of a lie, it shook us I can tell you as we believed it was our business and no one elses as we did not owe any money and taxes etc were upto date. They know everything these days.
That’s what I immediately thought too - anything UK first time buyer related - mortgages, the Life ISA, I’m sure there’s more. Especially as the OP is moving to UK? Maybe no purchase, but if you’re on a house deed, then maybe you already own a house.
Another possible repercussion of having one’s name on the deeds of a house in France concerns care home fees.
The share in the ownership of the house would be considered an asset and as such would have to be included in any means test to assess liability to pay care home fees.
If the OP eventually went into a home for example and had no cash to pay for their care, when they died the care home might seek to recover the unpaid fees. Don’t think the fact the property is abroad would be any bar to that.
Sorry - I don’t understand any of this, in relation to the OP’s question. There is no UK ‘stamp duty premium’ applicable to French property; the OP is not moving to the UK, they already live there; and she is not ‘already on a house deed’ in the UK.
I know. But we weren’t entirely clear what the OP meant in their question about “second house tax”.
We thought maybe the OP had misunderstood the UK stamp duty rule.
We’ve since concluded they’re probably referring to French taxe d’habitation.