Stamp Duty Refund eligibility

[julesflo]

1. Married couple, lived in a residential London flat for x years. Husband was the only owner. December 2021, we took equity out of London flat to buy house and keep/rent out the London flat. At the same time added wife to both mortgages (residential+BTL). (Wife never owned a property before). However we never rented the London flat but decided to sell it instead and buy another flat closer to house.
2. On house purchase , which is now our primary residential home , we obviously paid higher rate STLD.
3. Now selling flat in London.
4. And Buying a new flat for the same purpose - BTL. So will pay higher rate STLD again for the new flat purchase.

Question: Can we claim back the higher STLD paid from the house purchase once we complete the sale of London flat? Many thanks for any answer, any info link would help

If you had sold the flat within 3 years of the purchase of your new home, then yes I believe you would be entitled to stamp duty refund as you basically sold your main residence and replaced it with another.

You will still have to pay the higher stamp duty for the purchase of the new flat as that will be a secondary property and not your main residence but I think you know this and aren’t quibbling that.

This is all just off the top of my news though and could be bollocks.

News = head in sleep deprivation speak.

@julesflo

1. Married couple, lived in a residential London flat for x years. Husband was the only owner. December 2021, we took equity out of London flat to buy house and keep/rent out the London flat. At the same time added wife to both mortgages (residential+BTL). (Wife never owned a property before). However we never rented the London flat but decided to sell it instead and buy another flat closer to house.
2. On house purchase , which is now our primary residential home , we obviously paid higher rate STLD.
3. Now selling flat in London.
4. And Buying a new flat for the same purpose - BTL. So will pay higher rate STLD again for the new flat purchase.

Question: Can we claim back the higher STLD paid from the house purchase once we complete the sale of London flat? Many thanks for any answer, any info link would help

If you buy a new main residence but there’s a delay in selling your previous main residence, you might have to pay the higher rates of Stamp Duty as you’ll now own two properties.

However if you sell your previous main home within three years of buying your new home you might be able to apply for a refund(Opens in a new window) of the higher SDLT rates you paid when you purchased your new home.

You can request a refund for the amount above the normal Stamp Duty rates if:

You sell your previous main residence within three years, and
you claim the refund within 12 months of the sale of your previous main residence, or within 12 months of the filing date of your SDLT tax return, whichever comes later.

You would pay the higher rate SDLT for the new flat, as you will own two properties at the end of the transaction

www.gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-buying-an-additional-residential-property

As PP have said, yes if within 3 years. We just did this, expecting it to be very difficult. It it was the easiest bit of the transaction - online form filled in and money in the bank a few weeks later.

We did and solicitor claimed it back, just let them know, came back with interest added by HMRC as well.