What contracts do I have to sign?
First of all, you will have to sign a purchase agreement. This governs the relationship between you and the seller between exchange and completion.
Secondly, you need to sign your Title Deeds. These consist of a Deed of Underlease and Trust Deed.
The Deed of Underlease deals with the terms of your use and occupation of the property after completion. The Underlease grants the purchaser absolute title to the property by virtue of a 150 year lease.
A Trust Deed deals with the terms and conditions whereby you as beneficial owner hold the property on trust for yourself and the Government as legal owners (in your respective shares).
Mortgage Facility
How do I finance the property?
There are plenty of lending institutions which can offer you a mortgage facility in Gibraltar. However, the most popular are Natwest International Bank and Gibraltar International Bank. The lending institutions are willing to offer you a mortgage facility of 90-95% of the purchase price of the property. The Initial Interest rate offered varies from 2% to 4.49% depending on the value of the mortgage facility obtained followed by a Follow On Interest Rate of 5%. Attias & Levy are able to assist and guide you with any questions you may have in this respect.
Once you have obtained an offer, the lending institution will contact us with instructions and we will provide them with the required documents.
Stamp Duty
What is stamp duty?
Stamp Duty is the tax that the government charges when you purchase a property over £200,000. You pay different rates depending on the value of your property and the amount of your mortgage (if any).
How much stamp duty do I have to pay?
0% to be paid where:
The property value does not exceed £200,000 or
The property value is lower than £260,000 and you’re a first or second time buyer or
2% on the first £250,000 and 5.5% on the balance, where the property value exceeds £200,000 but does not exceed £350,000 and
3% on the first £350,000 and 3,5% on the balance where the property value exceeds £350,000.
Then we must account for another stamp duty if the property is financed with a mortgage loan. The amount would be 0,13% where the amount borrowed does not exceed £200,000 and 0,20% for amounts in excess of £200,000.
When do I have to pay?
After completion. We will deal with the payment of stamp duty (if applicable).
Registration of Title Deeds
What are Title Deeds?
The Title Deeds include the Deed of Underlease and the Deed of Mortgage. They both require registration.
What happens after I sign the Title Deeds?
We will take care of registration of the Title Deeds. This includes a Land Registry registration fee which must be paid by you.
Do I receive the Title Deeds?
No, we send the Title Deeds to the financial institution which has granted you a mortgage facility to purchase the property. They will keep them until your mortgage is paid.