My partner is a first-time buyer but I’m not?

Many couples wonder if they could be eligible for different first-time buyer schemes or reliefs such as the first-time buyer stamp duty relief if they are not a first-time buyer but their partner is.

In this brief guide, we will cover what options you have if “partner is a first-time buyer but I’m not “.

The answer is Yes. As long as you are eligible for any of the government home buying schemes you can still make full use of them even though your partner may not be a first-time buyer.

If your partner was a first-time buyer then you would have been able to pull together your resources to buy a home.

Example using both of your help to buy ISA bonuses or using both of your help to buy equity loans.

It is important to note that whilst the [government home buying schemes](In this brief guide, we will cover what options you have if “partner is a first-time buyer but I’m not “.) aren’t judged based on households in regards to your eligibility to use them, some features are judged based on households for your eligibility for them e.g most first-time buyer government schemes will require your household not to have an income over a certain threshold.

The help to buy ISA scheme will also be ending soon so if you want to take advantage of it as a first-time buyer then you must open a Help to Buy Isa account by 30 November 2019, as no new applications will be accepted after that date. You can, however, continue to save for another 10 years after that date.

Remember when buying a home under the [government’s first-time buyer schemes](In this brief guide, we will cover what options you have if “partner is a first-time buyer but I’m not “.) you will likely be required to sign a first-time buyer declaration stating you are a first-time buyer.

If you are not and you say you are then this may be a criminal offence.

Stamp duty considerations are much more different than your eligbility for a government scheme if your partner is a first-time buyer but you are not.

Unfortunately, once you have purchased a home even if you are below the threshold of £40,000 for stamp duty you have lost your first-time buyer status.

This means you are no longer eligible for the first-time buyer stamp duty relief

You will therefore not be able to buy the property with your partner as you will essentially distort their eligbility for the stamp duty relief as HMRC will not offer the relief if you are one of the home buyers.

Putting the house entirely in your partner’s name doesn’t help because in the eyes of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) you would be a joint purchaser with what’s called a “beneficial interest” in the property. You are viewed as having a beneficial interest if you have, in HMRC’s words, “any future entitlement to capital proceeds from the sale of the property, to income or to occupy the property

We hope this brief guide answers your concerns on “partner is a first-time buyer but I’m not “.

If you need financial advice and you live in the UK then you could contact the Money Advice service over the phone or via chat for impartial advice.

You can also contact the debt charity “Step Change” if you are in debt and need help.