SDLTM00430 | Scope: what is chargeable: land transactions: Residential Property– How many Dwellings? – Control of utilities and Other Factors

(This page was introduced on 01 October 2019)

Control of Utilities

A single dwelling should be able to control all or most of the utility services supplied to it.

Electricity – Dwellings should have an electricity supply which can be switched on and off from its own consumer unit, within the dwelling or a communal area.

Cold Water – Dwellings require a supply of water fit for human consumption/use. The water supply should be able to be turned off from its own stop tap, accessible from within the dwelling or in a communal area.

Heating – Dwellings will normally have their own independent system(s) for heating, although supplies may occasionally be shared, perhaps by way of a renewable energy scheme. A dwelling would be expected to be able to manage and turn their own heating system on or off (for example whilst works are done) without having to go through another dwelling.

Gas – Where a dwelling has a gas supply, they should be able to isolate it from within their property or from a shared area.

Where a property has a physical configuration which suggests it might be considered two dwellings (“main property” and “annex”) but very few or no utilities can be controlled by the annex-dwellers without needing to enter another dwelling to do so, it is likely that the “annex” should not be considered a single dwelling in its own right.

Other Factors

Included but not limited to:

Legal Constraints – The property may be subject to legal conditions, including planning restrictions and restrictive covenants, whether public or private law, which inhibit use as a separate dwelling. These conditions will be a factor in considering suitability of use as a dwelling, although where these conditions are not being respected for any reason, actual use will prove more helpful than theoretical use.

Council Tax – Where a property has been assessed for council tax purpose as comprising more than one dwelling, this is an indicator that for SDLT purposes there also may be more than one dwelling. However, the definition of dwelling for council tax purposes is different from that of Stamp Duty Land Tax, and hence this factor will not be a strong indicator on its own.

Marketing Material - Estate agents marketing material is a useful tool to assist in consideration of how many dwellings a property might comprise. However, an estate agents’ main objective is in selling the property, not in providing legislatively accurate definitions of dwellings, so this information is not determinative.

Separate post and bills – Individual letter boxes, utility bills and phone bills will all provide some evidence of separate dwellings, but a lack of them will not be a deciding factor to determine that there aren’t separate single dwellings.