Love my house

When you buy a house or flat that’s going to be your main home, you will pay stamp duty on everything above £125,000. If it’s a buy-to-let or second home, you pay stamp duty on any property costing more than £40,000.

 

What is Stamp Duty?

In England, Northern Ireland and Wales you’re liable to pay Stamp Duty when you buy a residential property, or a piece of land, that costs more than £125,000 (£40,000 for second homes).

 

This tax applies to both freehold and leasehold properties – whether you’re buying outright or with a mortgage.

 

In Scotland, when you buy a property or land you will pay a Land and Buildings Transaction Tax instead of Stamp Duty.

 

How much is Stamp Duty?

When you buy a property you’re planning to live in, you won’t pay any Stamp Duty on the first £125,000. You’ll then pay 2% on the portion up to £250,000 and 5% on the portion up to £925,000. Between that point and £1.5m, it’s 10% – then 12% on anything over £1.5m.

 

There are several rate bands for Stamp Duty.

 

For example, if you buy a house for £275,000, the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) you owe is calculated as follows:

 

0% on the first £125,000 = £0

2% on the next £125,000 = £2,500

5% on the final £25,000 = £1,250

Total SDLT = £3,750

 

Stamp duty for residential leasehold properties are charged differently.

 

Stamp Duty on second homes:

Buyers of additional residential properties, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties, will have to pay an extra 3% in Stamp Duty on top of current rates for each band.

 

This increased rate applies to properties bought for £40,000 or more.

It doesn’t apply to caravans, mobile homes or houseboats.

 

If you buy a new main residence but there is a delay in selling your previous main property, you’ll have to pay the higher Stamp Duty rates as you’ll now own two properties.

 

When is Stamp Duty not payable?

You’ll automatically avoid Stamp Duty if you buy a property below £125,000.

But for many homebuyers this isn’t possible.

 

There are other circumstances in which Stamp Duty is either not payable or can be reduced:

 

Slightly over rate band. If the price is only just within a higher band, ask the seller or estate agent if they would accept a slightly lower price.

Transfer of property in separation or divorce. If you’re divorcing or separating from your spouse or partner, there’s no Stamp Duty to pay if you transfer a proportion of your home value to them.

 

Transfer of deeds. If you transfer the deeds of your home to someone else either as a gift or in your will they won’t have to pay Stamp Duty on the market value of the property.

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Photo source: Elle Decorations UK http://bit.ly/2iPriZq

Raising the value of the house can be done in many ways. You can start re-shaping it, creating more useful space, refurbishing, changing the design, and maybe even adding some technological improvements (smarthomes).

A clean-cut way to add value inside the home is choosing valuable antiques. Special decorating objects that blend in the design, old elements from an old house that can be reused and kept for their high value, furniture from antique shops…

It will give you some headaches when it comes to the general design of the house, but with a very critical eye and some rightfully chosen antiques, your house is going to be… precious!

Lifestyle: Antiques shopping in the UK

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Some well-placed greenery can not only brighten a space but also purify the air – and they’re also helpful in creating a more relaxing, restful ambiance in any room. We know that spending time in nature is linked to reduced stress levels and tension relief. What’s more, in a 2008 study, Dutch researchers found that hospital patients with indoor plants in their rooms reported lower stress levels than patients without them.

  1. Aloe Vera Plant

The gel of the Aloe plant has several healing properties. Not only does it soothe skin burns and cuts, it can also help monitor the air quality in your home. The plant can help clear the air of pollutants found in chemical cleaning products, and when the amount of harmful chemicals in the air becomes excessive, the plants’ leaves will display brown spots. Aloe Vera Plant grows best with lots of sun.

  1. English Ivy Plant (Hedera Helix)

NASA Scientists listed the English Ivy as the number one best air-filtering houseplant, as it is the most effective plant when it comes to absorbing Formaldehyde. It’s also incredibly easy to grow and adaptable. Try it as a hanging or floor plant, grow in moderate temperature and medium sunlight.

  1. Peace Lily Plant

The beautiful Peace Lily plant is a wonderful low-maintenance flower to keep in the home. Peace Lilies do well in shade and cooler temperatures, and they can reduce the levels of a number of toxins in the air.

  1. Chrysanthemum

The bright flowering plant battles a whole host of chemical including Xylene, Formaldehyde, toluene and Benzene. Keep it in the Lounge (In bright sunlight) so it’s anti-polluting superpowers can be best put to use.

  1. Snake Plant (Sansevieria)

Snake Plants don’t need much light or water to survive, so they’re an easy choice for any corner of your home. The plant absorbs Carbon Dioxide and releases Oxygen during the night, so place one in your bedroom and you’ll breathe better while you sleep. It has also been proven to be extremely effective in treating headaches, eye irritation, and respiratory problems.

  1. Golden Pothos

The Golden Pothos makes the NASA list as well for its ability to clear Formaldehyde from the air. Try adding it to your Kitchen or Lounge as a hanging plant, as the leaves will grow down in cascading vines. They grow easily in cool temperatures with low levels of sunlight. Please be aware that it is considered poisonous and therefore should be kept away from small children and pets.

7.Calathea (Peacock Plants)

Peacock Plants are grown for their foliage alone and it’s easy to see why. The purple, green, pink and red leaves put on quite a show. For the best display, keep the plant moist (Not drenched) and avoid bright light.

  1. Jasmine

As part of the Olive family it normally grows outside, but can live inside just as well. This plant should be more specially placed in the bedroom as it promotes sleep quality by emitting scents that have shown to make for better sleep, as well as increase your levels of alertness.

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Photo source: ThisOldHouse http://bit.ly/2gPe4ve

The days are getting shorter and day-by-day we can enjoy lesser sunlight. Winter is coming, as they say, but that does not mean we cannot enjoy every bit of the sun these days.

Create yourself a small comfortable spot near the windows and you will be able to load yourself with vitamin D daily.

We found some interesting ideas in this article on ThisOldHouse.com:

Sitting Pretty With Window Seats

What do you fancy? A bay-window daybed, a sofa bed, or a built-in pillow space with a lot of storage?

Any of these in-the-sunlight options will look great in your home and you will be able to make the most of every minute of daylight. Well, also, starry nights are going to mean more to you than just sleep!

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Photo source: Zero Waste Home http://bit.ly/2hc5rv2

First steps for a environmentally friendly life is waste reduction. The biggest part of household waste is made out of recyclable materials or, worse, of things that are not recyclable and are bad for the environment.

Those who want to be more careful about their impact on the environment can some type of efforts, even starting with their homes.

  1. Reduce use of plastic by choosing re-usable cloth bags.
  2. Switch containers around the house to make sure all of them are re-usable. You can even go a step further and buy glass containers instead of plastic ones. If you do choose those out of plastic, make sure they’re used over and over again.
  3. Avoid individual wrappers that cannot be recycled. There are more efficient ways of wrapping food that you can find in the markets.

More ideas of how to recycle around the home you can find in these articles:

9 Simple Ways To Reduce Waste In Your Home

100Tips -Zero Waste Home

We also found a nice initiative for a grocery store to reduce use of waste. Look at what they proposed to their customers.

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In this everyday expanding world, the need for space is simply intensifying. More compact and smaller are key characteristics of future houses.

And, if it is ‘movable’ too, then it is probably perfect.

There are a lot of tiny houses that can be in the top for their design and unique use of space. Here are some examples of small houses that blend in perfectly by being unintrusive in the space they were built (or moved to).

However, one special project drew our attention: Elsa, the 323 square feet house with a greenhouse included. The ‘entire’ house was developed and designed by Olive Nest Tiny Homes. It might be small, but it has one of the most spacious interior design we encountered.

Elsa can be moved around and it fits in all of the settings one might think of. The porch and the mini-greenhouse are dreams came true for gardeners and traditionalists.

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Thinking about renewing the flooring in your small flat or your spacious house? Ever considered bamboo? 

Photo source: ThisOldHouse http://bit.ly/2l7iyCi

It looks great inside and the material (although not new) is one of the new entries in the commonly used materials for constructions and renovating.

We found a great article on ThisOldHouse.com about how to use bamboo for usual flooring for interior designing. There are, as for any other material, pros & cons.

Pros:
• A fast-renewing resource, bamboo is ready to harvest in 5 to 6 years, about one-tenth the time it takes red oak to mature. New stalks regrow from the same plant.
• Generally less expensive than a common hardwood by about $1 per square foot, and even cheaper in comparison with an exotic species.
• Extremely durable, a quality bamboo floor can last decades with care and minimal exposure to grit, high heels, and pets’ nails.

Cons:
• It can scratch, even with a factory finish, just as wood does; use doormats inside and protective pads with furniture.
• All bamboo is not the same, and it can be hard to sort through the quality claims. Plus, the different types (see below) make apples-to-apples comparisons a challenge.
• Off-gassing can occur with lesser-quality flooring made with adhesives containing urea-formaldehyde.

Read the full article for a clear image and all the implications.

All About Bamboo Flooring

More on how magical bamboo can be in Elora Hardy’s inspiring talk on TED.com.

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Photo source: Flickr http://bit.ly/2yXUUOG

When you’ve got a small kitchen, the hard part is getting used to it. Once you make peace with the thought that you will never have the entire space you need, you can learn to manage a small kitchen.

However, what we recommend is that – once in a while – you clean all the space up and get rid of all the useless stuff that just crowds up the room.

Moreover, there are tricks of making use of space that you don’t consider usable at first sight. Read the article below and tell us what you improved in your kitchen

How to Make Space in a Small Kitchen

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Photo source: Pxhere http://bit.ly/2gnfekP

As we told you before and we insist now, gardening is something you can do no matter the space you live in! You don’t even have to have a garden in fact. Just a balcony and some pots should suffice. 

With some seeds, a little bit of will and some extra effort you can have a small garden or a balcony garden in no time. And because we know this is the exact moment when you will try to find some excuses, we are just going to tell you this: It is not too late! A garden can be created during autumn just as well as in other seasons.

But let’s take it step by step. There are some gardening activities that can be done while the weather seems to be getting colder. Actually, it is just the air a bit colder. The soil is still warm and everything planted in the autumn days should benefit from the lack of very high temperatures or the extra burning sun.

So autumn is a great season to take on the ‘secret garden’ project. Prepare for plants, vegetables or flowers that have a long transformation period from seed to plant.

All the spring flowers need a period of cold dormacy to bloom, so pick your favourite ones and plant them now. You can choose from daffodils, allium, grape hyacinths, dog’s-tooth violet, Siberian squill, fritillaria, winter aconite, glory-of-the-snow, and snowdrops. Moreover, pansies are sure to bloom if planted during autumn.

Vegetables are easier to plant and endure the cold even better: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishes, carrots.

Also, some greeny leafs like lettuce and spinach can be planted even in the late autumn days because they have a short maturity time.

 

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Photo source: Shedsistence https://shedsistence.com/

DIY projects can be quite impressive and inspiring to look at. You can build almost anything by yourself if you have the right materials.

These couple took everything further and built their entire small home. In a barn. Then moved it around to the right placement. The video is mind-blowing and will give you the feeling that you can practically do anything if you set it as a goal and do not rest until you see it completed.

The start of Robert and Samantha’s project is very well-planned and documented. You will see they planned to build the tiny home in 12 – 14 months. The entire place has almost 19 sq meters and can be moved around. They shared their construction plans on their website, as well as a lot of precious advice.

Anybody else feeling up to this project?

Where would you move your entire home if you could?

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