What is a dwelling? What does it mean for something to be suitable for use as one? Why does this matter? What am I talking about?
In a group chat I am in someone posted a picture of what was a truly terrible room in a house that needed a staggering amount of work to bring back in to use.
They asked “Would stamp duty be required on a property in this sort of condition please?”
They were asking because the guidance and law states that the additional surcharge of 5% applies to purchases of rental properties so long as they are “suitable for use as a dwelling”.
One of the follow ups was “Even though nobody from HMRC would ever live in it. 😬🤦♂️”
This is a common type of response to this type of scenario. The confusion comes from largely social media and what I’d go so far as to call scammers. They will regularly post things like:
“Pigeons in the loft? No running water? Asbestos? Get your SDLT back!”
They may as well say:
“Grass too long? Garden gate squeaking? Get your SDLT back!”
Both would be just as accurate.
The influencers and scammers have pushed a narrative so long that people almost believe that if a property is not desirable, habitable or even safe that SDLT will not be due. Not so.
HMRC have said that unless a house needs to be practically rebuilt the SDLT will be due.
I would add that if you get a dubious refund via a claims company you will likely need to pay that back in due course. You will have probably lost the fee you paid though because the claims company will have disappeared…