Transferring rental property to spouse

Does anyone have any actual experience of this?

Long and short of it is I have a rental on Eccy road which is mortgaged. It's probably worth around £120k-ish and does generate a small (but soon to be increase due to changes in tax law) profit. I'd like to transfer this to my wife to take advantage of her lower tax banding.

Can I do the paperwork myself or is it worth chucking a few quid at a conveyancer?

You can't do all of it yourself. Even if you choose not to use a solicitor, the mortgagee (lender) will insist on one- and you or your wife will have the privilege of paying the legal fees.

I have done this. As Jeffrey said, you need a solicitor do it for you. In essence, the solicitor would be acting on your wife's behalf. They'll draft the paperwork for you to sign over the property.

The kicker here is that it is mortgaged. If this property ends up being your wife's second property, then SDLT is payable to the HMRC.

If there was no mortgage on it, then the transfer can be considered as a gift and no SDLT is payable.

You need to consult a solicitor to make sure this is done correctly.

Transferring the property into your spouses name will probably just be kicking the can down the road in my opinion. HMRC are aware of the various loopholes and will close them at will in the coming budgets. The S24 tax changes are doing exactly what they were implemented to do, particularly in London, which always leads the market, and the shock the tories got in the election will only further strenghen their resolve. Hammond, like Osborne before him, has been tasked with ending btl as an investment option. The only survivors will be those who put their properties into limited companies, where finances are clear for all to see and taxes are unavoidable, and those landlords who are not leveraged and there are enough in either camp to maintain a healthy supply of properties to the market, although sadly not the op by all accounts

Speak to an accountant as well, as someone has already mentioned limited companies, it mate be worth looking at that option as well as an alternative to passing the property to your wife. If the property is mortgaged & your wife already owns a property the £3600 stamp duty land tax bill she will get will eat into any tax savings you make.

Setting up a limited company would enable you offset costs again and if you're a higher rate tax payer you'll pay less tax through dividends, also this way means it's all already set up for you if you decide to buy any further properties.

Speak to a solicitor, an accountant and your mortgage lender then you'll know the costings of all the options and can make an informed decision.

Does the property need transferring, can you not just set the wife up as the landlord and have her collect (and pay tax) on the rental income?

Does the property need transferring, can you not just set the wife up as the landlord and have her collect (and pay tax) on the rental income?

No, only the owner can let. At most, a non-owning spouse could only be the landlord's informal letting agent.