SDLTM29811 | Availability of the relief

The conditions for the relief are set out in FA03 s57B and Schedule 6ZA. References in this section of the manual are to paragraphs of that schedule unless otherwise stated.

Broadly, this relief applies where:

· there is a purchase of a single dwelling, and

· the purchase price is not more than £500,000, and

· the purchaser or, if there is more than one, each of them, is an individual, and

· the purchaser or, if there is more than one, each of them, is a first-time buyer, who intends to occupy the dwelling as their only or main residence, and

· the effective date of the transaction is on or after 22 November 2017, and

· the purchase is not linked to any other land transactions, except for land that is or forms part of the gardens or grounds of the dwelling, or land that subsists for the benefit of either the dwelling or its garden and grounds.

Relief cannot be claimed (Para 1(7)) where the purchase is a higher rates transaction for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Schedule 4ZA FA03 (see SDLTM09730+ for guidance on higher rates for additional dwellings).

Relief cannot be claimed where the purchase consists of or includes non-residential land.

To count as a first-time buyer, a purchaser must not, either alone or with others, have previously acquired a major interest in a dwelling or an equivalent interest in land situated anywhere in the world. See SDLTM29845 for the meaning of “first-time buyer” for the purposes of first-time buyers’ relief.

See SDLTM29851 for the meaning of “dwelling” for the purposes of first-time buyers’ relief.