Stamp Duty Relief for Bulk Purchases

Residential Property

The Finance Act 2011 has introduced a tax relief provision for purchases of multiple residential properties.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is calculated by the total paid for the land in question.  At present this includes single transactions that involve more than one property and linked transactions between the same buyer and seller.  This means that a purchaser buying multiple properties can pay a higher rate of tax than a purchaser buying a single property.

Under the new legislation, relief can be claimed so that SDLT will be calculated by the average price of all the properties (subject to a minimum rate of 1%).  It is hoped that this change will create more demand and reduce the obstacles to investing in residential property.

For more details about these changes or any other property matters please contact us.