Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) exemption

On 25th March 2012 first time buyers will no longer benefit from the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) exemption whereby, provided both buyers have never owned a property before, no SDLT is payable up to the property value of £250,000.

Unless the coalition makes any interim changes, after 24th March, first time buyers will pay the same SDLT on their property purchases as other buyers, namely, 1% between £125,000 and £250,000.

HMRC provisions states that in order to benefit from the exemption, the buyer(s) must:

• intend to live in the property as their only or main home
• not have previously owned property or land either in the UK or anywhere else in the world – including property bought with anyone else

As many property transactions take several weeks to reach completion (handover of keys), for prospective buyers to benefit from the current exemption, they will need to instruct their solicitors (after having found a property of course!) as soon as possible. If any first-, second- or multi-time buyers have any questions about the ins and outs of property purchases or SDLT, please do contact any member of our residential conveyancing team.

 

Johanna Robinson
Solicitor
Residential Conveyancing
JRobinson@LawBlacks.com

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