Stamp duty relief where a home is open to the public
Public access and SDLT relief
A commercial home business may qualify for relief where it genuinely offers the public a chance to use the home on 28 separate days each year.
- Completed bookings are not required on every available day.
- Private invitations do not count as public access.
- Keep records that show genuine public availability.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Stamp duty relief where a home is open to the public
A company or certain similar buyer may avoid a special stamp duty charge where a home forms part of a real commercial business that is open to the public. Visitor numbers do not decide it.
The key point is availability. HMRC says the public must have a genuine chance to use the home on 28 separate days each calendar year.
What this rule is about
This relief covers a business that earns income by letting people use, stay in or enjoy a home. A wedding venue is one example.
It does not cover a private home used now and then by friends or family.
The law sets the main test, while HMRC’s manual explains how HMRC thinks that test works in everyday situations. That difference matters.
HMRC guidance is not the law.
What the official source says
Under the legislation, the business must be commercial, aim to make a profit, and normally offer the public a chance to use, stay in or otherwise enjoy the home on at least 28 days in a calendar year. The inside matters too.
The public must be able to enjoy a significant part of it.
HMRC takes the following view about the public-access part of that test:
- The chance to book or visit must be genuinely available on 28 separate days.
- People do not have to take up that chance on all 28 days.
- The offer must be open to everyone, subject to sensible commercial limits.
- Access based only on a personal invitation is not access by the public.
- A connected person can count as a member of the public if they book on the same basis as everyone else.
HMRC also says a business may meet the condition in its first year even where it cannot offer 28 days in that year, if it intends to offer at least 28 days in each later calendar year and has already taken steps to open to the public. Preparation matters.
What this means in practice
Do not count only completed bookings. Count each separate day when an ordinary member of the public could genuinely have booked or visited.
A quiet year alone does not mean the relief fails.
There is a limit: a website that looks public will not help where the owner accepts only people they know. Look at what happened.
The real question is how access worked in practice.
- Keep a booking calendar, including days with no bookings.
- Keep copies of adverts, listings and social-media posts.
- Record any normal limits, such as opening hours or a minimum booking fee.
- Make clear which rooms or indoor spaces customers may use.
- Keep evidence of work done before the business opened.
How to analyse it
Start with the business, then test the access it offered, because calling a place a venue will not be enough if its trading plans and day-to-day operation do not match the claim. Names prove nothing.
- Is there a real commercial business that aims to make a profit?
- Will the home earn income through that business?
- Were sensible plans in place to start without avoidable delay?
- Could members of the public use, stay in or enjoy it on 28 separate days?
- Could they use a significant part of the inside, rather than just a small room?
- Were any limits normal commercial limits, rather than a way to exclude the public?
- If the business started mid-year, what steps show it was preparing to open?
Example
Priya’s company buys a large house to run as a wedding venue. During its first full year, only 20 weddings take place on different days.
That alone does not decide the result. If the house was available to book every Friday and Saturday, HMRC says the 28-day public-access condition can still be met.
Now change one fact. Priya lets only relatives, friends and people personally introduced to her use the house.
Even if there are 28 such days, HMRC says that is not an offer to the public. The booking route matters.
Why this can be difficult in practice
This is the part people get wrong: a business can be public without having 28 customers, but it cannot be private simply because a connected person happened to make a booking. The distinction is important.
Some cases sit in the middle. A high price, security rules or limited opening days may be normal for the business.
They may also make access too narrow. The facts matter.
- A private guest list is different from an advertised booking system.
- A few indoor rooms may not be a significant part of the home.
- An intention to open later needs support from real preparatory work.
- Relief can be withdrawn if the required business use does not continue during the statutory control period.
Key takeaways
- Availability to the public matters more than the number of bookings.
- HMRC expects 28 separate available days each calendar year.
- Personal invitations for friends and connections are not enough.
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 2003 section 55A — higher SDLT rate for certain home purchases
- FA 2003 Schedule 4A para 3 — when the special higher rate applies
- FA 2003 Schedule 4A para 5B — relief for commercial public-access trades
- FA 2003 Schedule 4A para 5H — when public-access relief can be withdrawn
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.
Where this is not settled
- The Act does not define ‘the public’. HMRC’s explanation of that word is guidance, not legislation.
- Whether access is genuinely public, whether limits are reasonable commercial limits, and whether enough of the inside is available will depend on the facts.
- The current statutory position must be checked for a purchase after 17 November 2025, the currency date of the supplied general legislation extract.
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.
- advertising, booking pages and terms showing when the home was open for bookings
- a calendar showing at least 28 separate available days
- business plans, forecasts and records of steps taken before opening
- plans and photographs showing which indoor areas visitors could use
- booking records and correspondence explaining any restrictions on access
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 where a home is open to the public [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 2003 section 55A - higher SDLT rate for certain home purchases https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/55A/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 4A para 3 - when the special higher rate applies https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/4A/paragraph/3/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 4A para 5B - relief for commercial public-access trades https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/4A/paragraph/5B/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 4A para 5H - when public-access relief can be withdrawn https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/4A/paragraph/5H/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/sdltm09610 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. POINTS ALREADY KNOWN TO BE UNCERTAIN ON THIS TOPIC - The Act does not define 'the public'. HMRC's explanation of that word is guidance, not legislation. - Whether access is genuinely public, whether limits are reasonable commercial limits, and whether enough of the inside is available will depend on the facts. - The current statutory position must be checked for a purchase after 17 November 2025, the currency date of the supplied general legislation extract. 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 31 August 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Stamp duty relief where a home is open to the public
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