Stamp duty relief for buying more than one home: early contracts
Early contracts can still matter
Multiple dwellings relief was abolished from 1 June 2024, but a contract exchanged on or before 6 March 2024 may be protected.
- Check the exchange date.
- Check for later changes or assignments.
- Include the exchange date on the SDLT return.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Stamp duty relief for buying more than one home: early contracts
Stamp duty relief for buying more than one home: early contracts
If you exchanged contracts to buy two or more homes on or before 6 March 2024, the relief for buying more than one home at once may still be available. Post-1 June 2024 completion can still qualify. One later change to the deal can alter that result.
What this rule is about
Multiple dwellings relief, often called MDR, reduced SDLT in some purchases involving more than one home. Finance Act 2024 abolished it for transactions with an effective date on or after 1 June 2024.
There is a saving rule for some earlier contracts. It protects a deal already agreed by 6 March 2024, but only if the parties did not later change it in a way the legislation treats as excluded.
That date can decide a large tax bill.
What the official source says
HMRC’s manual describes the transition rule. It is HMRC guidance, not the law itself. HMRC says MDR remains available if the parties entered into the contract on or before 6 March 2024, even if completion came later, provided the purchase is not an excluded transaction and would otherwise qualify for the relief.
- The contract must have been exchanged on or before 6 March 2024.
- The purchase must otherwise have qualified for multiple dwellings relief.
- There must be no later contract variation that makes it an excluded transaction.
- There must be no later assignment of rights under the contract.
- The deal must not result from using an option, pre-emption right, or similar right after 6 March 2024.
- The SDLT return should give both the exchange date and the completion date.
HMRC rejects MDR claims without exchange dates. Keep clear evidence of that date.
What this means in practice
An early exchange date is not enough on its own. You also need to check what happened between exchange and completion. A simple delay in completing does not, by itself, stop the protection.
However, a change to the price after 6 March 2024 can matter. So can passing the benefit of the contract to somebody else, or reshaping the deal through a later right or sub-sale.
- Check the date when contracts were exchanged, not just the completion date.
- Read every later side letter, deed and agreed change.
- Check whether anyone assigned rights under the contract.
- Check whether an option or similar right was used after 6 March 2024.
- Make sure the SDLT return records the exchange date.
If your solicitor has said MDR is unavailable because completion was after 1 June 2024, this is the point to check. A pre-7 March contract may produce a different answer.
How to analyse it
Start with the contract that led to the purchase. Then follow the paper trail from exchange to completion. The key question is not simply when you got the keys: it is whether the original early contract remained in place without a listed exclusion.
- Was the contract entered into on or before 6 March 2024?
- Would the purchase have met MDR’s separate conditions?
- Was the contract varied after 6 March 2024?
- Were rights under it assigned after that date?
- Did an option, right of pre-emption, or similar right bring about the deal after that date?
- Did a later assignment, sub-sale, or other arrangement let a different person call for the transfer?
- If an exclusion applies, did completion take place before 1 June 2024?
The effective date is usually the completion date. It can differ if the parties substantially performed the contract earlier, for example by taking possession or paying most of the price. That is a separate SDLT timing point.
Example
Amira exchanged contracts on 4 March 2024 to buy two homes. The purchase would have qualified for MDR at that time. Completion took place on 4 June 2024.
Nothing changed after exchange. Nobody assigned rights, and no option or similar right was used. HMRC’s manual says the later completion date does not prevent MDR in that situation.
Now change one fact. On 4 April 2024, Amira and the seller agree a new price. HMRC says that is a post-6 March contract variation. The deal is then excluded. To keep MDR, it needed to complete before 1 June 2024. It did not.
Why this can be difficult in practice
People often focus only on the date of completion. That is understandable, but it misses the saving rule for an early contract. People overlook minor emailed changes.
What actually decides the issue? The legal effect of what happened after 6 March 2024, not the label used for the document.
- A price change may be a contract variation.
- An assignment can be formal or part of a wider arrangement.
- A sub-sale can change who is entitled to require the transfer.
- The original contract may not show every later agreement.
- A missing exchange date on the return can cause HMRC to reject the claim.
Key takeaways
- An exchange on or before 6 March 2024 may preserve MDR after 1 June 2024.
- A later variation or transfer of rights can remove that protection.
- Record the exchange date as well as the completion date on the SDLT return.
Technical analysis
For advisers, and for anyone who wants to check the law behind this page. You do not need this section to understand the guidance above.
Legislation
- FA 2024 section 25 — abolishes multiple dwellings relief with transitional protection
- FA 2003 section 44 — sets the SDLT treatment of contracts and completion
- FA 2003 section 58D — provides for multiple dwellings relief claims in returns
- FA 2003 section 119 — defines the effective date of a land transaction
Official guidance
The pages below are HMRC’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how HMRC reads the legislation, and it is not binding on you, on a tribunal or on a court. Where guidance and the legislation differ, the legislation wins. HMRC can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Evidence you would need
This kind of case is decided on the facts of the individual property. These are the records that usually settle it, and the ones an adviser would ask you for.
- the signed contract and evidence of its exchange date
- the completion statement and completion date
- any agreed contract variation after 6 March 2024
- documents showing any assignment, sub-sale, option or pre-emption right
- a copy of the SDLT return showing the exchange date
Explore this with an AI
Readers often want to test their own situation. Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It hands the model the actual legislation for this page rather than letting it answer from memory, and tells it to be explicit about what is uncertain. What comes back is information, not advice – check it against the links above.
I am researching UK Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), which applies in England and Northern Ireland. MY QUESTION Stamp duty relief for buying more than one home: early contracts [Replace this with your own situation: what you are buying, the price, the dates, who the buyer is, and what you plan to do with the property.] THE LAW THIS TURNS ON - FA 2024 section 25 - abolishes multiple dwellings relief with transitional protection https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/3/section/25 - FA 2003 section 44 - sets the SDLT treatment of contracts and completion https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/44/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 58D - provides for multiple dwellings relief claims in returns https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/58D/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 119 - defines the effective date of a land transaction https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/119/2025-11-17 Guidance page from HMRC on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm29902 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from HMRC is its view of the law, not the law, and does not bind a tribunal or a court. 2. Tell me what the rule actually requires, in plain English. 3. Tell me which facts decide the answer, and which facts would change it. 4. Tell me what evidence I would need to support the position. 5. Be explicit about anything unsettled or fact-sensitive. Do not guess. 6. Your training data has a cutoff and SDLT rates and reliefs change at fiscal events. Say so if you are not sure the law is current. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show Finance Act 2003 as it stood on 2025-11-17. The law may have changed since, and the rules that apply are those in force on the date of your transaction. The official guidance this page is based on is here.
This page was last updated on 1 September 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Stamp duty relief for buying more than one home: early contracts
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