High Rise Flats: Insulation
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to ensure that leasehold owners who were unable to sell their properties in the 2020-21 financial year due to cladding remediation works can qualify for the temporarily reduced Stamp Duty Land Tax rates that were in place during that period.
Answered by James Murray
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SLDT) rates were reduced from July 2020 to September 2021 in response to exceptional circumstances in the housing market. The SDLT rates applicable to a purchase are those in place on the date of the transaction. SDLT remains an important source of Government revenue, raising around £12 billion each year to help pay for the essential services the Government provides.
A refund of the higher rate of SDLT paid when purchasing additional property can be claimed in exceptional circumstances, or if an old main residence is sold within three years of the purchase of the new main residence. This includes those paying higher rates of SDLT because they have been unable to sell a main residence due to issues with unsafe cladding. HMRC consider each individual case on its own merits.
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