Understanding SDLT Higher Rate for Non-Natural Persons on Residential Properties

When a dwelling is genuinely available to the public for SDLT relief

For SDLT relief from the higher rates that can apply when certain non-natural persons, such as companies, buy residential property, a dwelling must be genuinely available to the public for use or enjoyment. The key test is real public availability on 28 separate days in a calendar year, not whether the property was actually used on 28 days.

• The property must be genuinely open to the public at large, subject to normal commercial terms such as pricing, booking procedures, capacity limits, and opening days.
• It is enough for the opportunity to exist on 28 separate days in the year; 28 actual bookings, visits, weddings, or events are not required.
• If access is limited to friends, family, business contacts, connected persons, or invitation-only guests, it is unlikely to count as being available to the public.
• Connected persons can still count as part of the public if they use the property on the same basis as any other customer, and not because of their relationship with the owner.
• If the commercial public use starts part way through the year, relief may still apply if there was a genuine plan to make the property available for at least 28 days in later years and real preparatory steps had already been taken.
• In practice, the decision depends on the facts and evidence, such as advertising, booking systems, published terms, and whether access was truly open rather than selectively controlled.

Scroll down for the full analysis.

When a dwelling is genuinely “available to the public” for SDLT relief from the higher rates for certain non-natural persons

This page explains a specific condition in the SDLT rules for the higher rate charge on residential property bought by certain non-natural persons, such as companies. The point here is narrow but important: in some cases, a dwelling may fall outside that higher rate charge if the public has a real opportunity to use or enjoy it. The key question is whether that opportunity is genuinely available to the public, and for long enough.

What this rule is about

The official material deals with one of the relief conditions linked to the higher rate SDLT charge for certain non-natural persons acquiring residential property. In broad terms, the rule looks at whether the dwelling is being used in a way that gives the public an opportunity to enjoy or use it, rather than being held simply as private residential property.

This matters because the relief depends not just on what the owner says they intend, but on whether the property is genuinely being made available to the public on a sufficient number of days in the year.

What the official source says

HMRC’s manual says the opportunity must genuinely be available to the public on 28 separate days in each calendar year. The public do not actually have to use the property on 28 days. What matters is that the opportunity existed on 28 separate days.

The manual gives the example of a dwelling used as a wedding venue. If only 20 weddings actually take place in the year, that does not by itself prevent the condition being met, provided the property was available for hire on at least 28 separate days.

The manual also recognises that a property may only start being exploited commercially part way through a chargeable period. In that situation, relief can still be available even if the property could not in fact be available for 28 days in that calendar year, provided two things are true:

• there is an intention to make it available for at least 28 days in each later calendar year, and
• steps were being taken earlier in the year to open it to the public.

On the meaning of “public”, HMRC says the ordinary meaning applies. The opportunity must be available to everyone, subject to reasonable commercial considerations.

The manual then draws an important distinction. If access is only available to people connected with the owner, or familiar with the owner, and they can only attend by personal invitation, that is not availability to the public. But if a connected person uses the property in the same way as any other member of the public, and not because of their connection, they can still count as part of the public for this purpose.

What this means in practice

The practical focus is on genuine public availability, not private or selective use dressed up as public access.

Three points usually matter most:

• Was the property actually being offered to the public, rather than only to friends, family, business contacts, or invited guests?
• Was it available on 28 separate days in the calendar year?
• If the commercial use only began part way through the year, is there evidence of a real plan and real preparatory steps to open it to the public?

The rule does not require 28 actual bookings, visits, or events. A property can satisfy the condition even if public take-up is lower, as long as the opportunity was genuinely there.

At the same time, merely asserting that the property could have been made available is unlikely to be enough if, in reality, access was tightly controlled and only offered to a closed circle.

“Subject to reasonable commercial considerations” is also important. A property can still be available to the public even if there are normal commercial terms, such as pricing, booking procedures, capacity limits, opening days, or suitability requirements. Those kinds of restrictions do not necessarily stop it being public. What matters is whether the offer is genuinely open to the public at large, rather than to a hand-picked group.

How to analyse it

A sensible way to analyse this condition is to work through the following questions:

• What is the claimed public use? For example, venue hire or another form of public enjoyment.
• On which separate days in the calendar year was the property genuinely available for that use?
• Is there evidence of public availability, such as advertising, booking systems, published terms, or other outward-facing arrangements?
• Were any restrictions simply normal commercial conditions, or did they effectively limit access to connected or known persons?
• If fewer than 28 days were possible because the activity started part way through the year, was there a genuine intention to make the property available for at least 28 days in later years?
• What steps were taken before opening, such as marketing, preparation, or setting up the arrangements needed to admit the public?
• If connected persons used the property, did they do so as ordinary customers or attendees, or because of their personal relationship with the owner?

This is a factual exercise. The answer is likely to depend on the real pattern of availability and access, not just labels used by the owner.

Example

A company owns a large house and says it is used as an events venue. During the year, only 18 events are actually held. That alone does not prevent relief if the house was genuinely available for booking by the public on at least 28 separate days.

By contrast, if the house is only ever offered to the directors’ friends, family contacts, and selected business associates, with attendance by invitation only, it is unlikely to be regarded as available to the public.

If the venue business only starts late in the year, the company may still be able to rely on the relief if it can show that it intended to make the house available on at least 28 days in future calendar years and had already been taking real steps earlier in the year to open it to the public.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The main difficulty is that “available to the public” is easy to say but more nuanced to prove.

A property may appear commercial on paper, yet in substance be used only by people close to the owner. Equally, a property may be used by connected persons from time to time without failing the condition, if those people booked or attended on the same basis as anyone else.

Another area of judgement is what counts as reasonable commercial restrictions. Ordinary booking conditions should not by themselves stop a property being available to the public, but restrictions that are so narrow that only a pre-selected group could realistically qualify may point the other way.

The part-year rule is also fact-sensitive. Intention alone is not enough. The official material indicates that steps must have been taken during the earlier part of the year to open the property to the public. So the evidence of preparation may matter as much as the stated plan.

Key takeaways

• The property must be genuinely available to the public on 28 separate days in each calendar year; 28 actual uses are not required.
• Availability to friends, family, connected persons, or invited guests only is not the same as availability to the public.
• If public exploitation starts part way through the year, relief may still be possible if there was a real intention for future public availability and real steps were already being taken to open the property up.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Understanding SDLT Higher Rate for Non-Natural Persons on Residential Properties

View all HMRC SDLT Guidance Pages Here