gra001 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Guys, I've already received help with a few questions I've raised regarding me spending 6 months of each year in Oz (Manly NSW to visit my daughter, who is an Oz citizen, and her family). I've considered leasing via a real estate agent and taking a holiday rental, it also has been suggested that I might like to consider purchasing a property here. So, I've browsed the FIRB website and this does not seem a straightforward option, for example, by the time the buyer has notified them of a possible purchase and received a response it has most likely been sold to someone else. Anyway, advice from the "pomsinoz" collective please on a UK resident buying a residential property in Oz. I will, of course, talk to a financial advisor in the UK. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Not really that complicated, not sure about the current rules but as a non resident you can only buy a new property not an older established home. We bought land then built a home with FIRB approval before we returned to settle here. You simply make it a condition of the sale in the same way that finance or a survey would be, it usually only takes a couple of weeks max to get. Means that you cannot really buy via auction but that doesn't usually happen with new builds or land though. From July there will be a considerable charge though of around $4-10k dependent on the value I think. approval is currently free so I would get your skates on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Could you buy the property via your daughter who lives here? Thereby pushing the FIRB approval out of harms way...so to speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gra001 Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Yes, I would be happy to do that and can't see anything on the FIRB website that prohibits this, as far as you know, is this acceptable? I wouldn't want either me or her to be in breach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Check with an Australian property lawyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Yes, I would be happy to do that and can't see anything on the FIRB website that prohibits this, as far as you know, is this acceptable? I wouldn't want either me or her to be in breach. If you bought the house, and pretended it was your daughter that had done so, then you would have broken the law and your daughter would have broken the law by helping you. If however you gifted the money to your daughter to buy a house, well there's no law against that. It would also be rather difficult to prove there was anything underhand about the transaction if you were pretending this is what had happened (especially as it is legally what has happened - you'd have no legal comeback against your daughter should she decide not to let you stay there!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gra001 Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 If you bought the house, and pretended it was your daughter that had done so, then you would have broken the law and your daughter would have broken the law by helping you. If however you gifted the money to your daughter to buy a house, well there's no law against that. It would also be rather difficult to prove there was anything underhand about the transaction if you were pretending this is what had happened (especially as it is legally what has happened - you'd have no legal comeback against your daughter should she decide not to let you stay there!). Yes, your first sentence is backed up by the FIRB and I have no desire to misrepresent. My intention would be to gift the funds to my daughter (we have a strong relationship☺!) and, of course, the property would be in her name. My understanding, and an important benefit, is that by gifting, so long as I survive 7 years the funds would be outside of my estate for UK inheritance tax purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Yes, your first sentence is backed up by the FIRB and I have no desire to misrepresent. My intention would be to gift the funds to my daughter (we have a strong relationship☺!) and, of course, the property would be in her name. My understanding, and an important benefit, is that by gifting, so long as I survive 7 years the funds would be outside of my estate for UK inheritance tax purposes. Yes, that's right. Of course the house would be within Australian CGT and (assuming your daughter lives somewhere else) she wouldn't be able to claim it as her principal private residence so would be liable for the gain when the property was sold (just to be clear that the actual gift wouldn't be taxed just the amount the house went up in value after it was purchased). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gra001 Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Ken, many thanks it looks like we have the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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