Shared ownership stamp duty changes

In the Budget on 29th October 2018 the scope of “First-Time Buyer Relief” (more accurately called first-time owner relief, since prior ownership of inherited property excludes from eligibility) was extended, with retrospective effect back to 22nd November 2017.

First-Time Buyer Relief now extends to eligible buyers in all shared ownership (new-build and resale) purchase transactions with full market value £500,000 or less, for new-builds whichever of the “full market value” or “payment in stages” options is chosen.

So FTBR can now apply to purchases of new-builds where the “payment in stages” option is (or has been) taken in transactions completed on or after 22nd November 2017.

Since the last Budget, First-Time Buyer Relief could not be claimed in purchases of resale shared ownership properties (save when full market value duty had been paid on the initial purchase), but the Finance Bill just published proposes to extend FTBR to purchases of resales as well.

So first-time owners ought to check with the provider firm the numbers for SDLT on their shared ownership (new-build and resale) purchase legal costs quotations, as the SDLT payable may now have changed.

The Chancellor has fixed the anomaly created in his 2017 Budget (that many first-time new-build (and all resale) shared ownership buyers could not get First-Time Buyer Relief) by making it now available to all (subject to eligibility).

30th October 2018