What Counts as a Home for the Non-UK Resident SDLT Surcharge?
In short
For the non-UK resident SDLT surcharge, a home can include its grounds and a separate garage or right that benefits it. A future intention to build is not enough.
- Check what existed at the relevant tax date.
- Keep dated evidence of construction and site use.
- Do not assume a title plan or planning permission decides the issue.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
What Counts as a Home for the Non-UK Resident SDLT Surcharge?
What counts as a home for the non-UK resident SDLT surcharge?
The non-UK resident surcharge on stamp duty applies only if the purchase includes a home. That sounds obvious. It is not always obvious when you buy a plot, a partly built house, grounds, or a garage away from the main property.
What this rule is about
For the surcharge to apply, the main thing bought must be a major interest in a home or homes at the relevant tax date under the statutory test. That requirement is central.
This is therefore not a general charge on every piece of land. When you buy a plot for a future build, it may look like a house project. That alone does not make it a home for this test.
The law uses the term “dwelling”. On this page, that means a home unless the exact legal label matters.
What the official source says
Schedule 9A covers whole buildings and parts. People must use it, or be able to use it, as one home. It can also count when builders are constructing or adapting a building for that use.
- Land used or enjoyed with the home can form part of it. This can include its garden, grounds and structures on that land.
- The buyer can also acquire a right or interest that benefits the home.
- That interest does not have to touch the house. HMRC’s example is a separate garage in a block.
- Buying only the garage, grounds or another separate interest does not meet the requirement for an actual home in the purchase.
- Plans to build or convert after the purchase are not enough on their own.
- The rules exclude some types of communal residential accommodation, including care homes and halls of residence.
There is a special rule for some off-plan purchases. It can apply when buyers have exchanged contracts for a building that will become one home, substantial performance sets the tax date, and nobody has started work by then.
Work must not have started.
Substantial performance is a legal term. It may precede formal completion. For example, the buyer may take possession or pay almost all of the price.
What this means in practice
At the relevant tax date, begin by identifying exactly what you are buying, rather than relying on the estate agent’s description or your plans for the site. That is the starting point.
If your solicitor has said the surcharge applies and you think the property is only land, this is the part to check.
Ask whether there was already a home, a building being worked on to become one, or an off-plan contract within the special rule. That is the test.
- The house and its normal garden will usually be considered together.
- Where bought with the house, a nearby garage may be part of the overall home for this purpose.
- Buying a garage by itself does not trigger this surcharge condition.
- Merely hoping to build a house later does not suffice when land is bought, because that intention alone cannot turn the purchase into a home.
HMRC’s manual says whether land is garden or grounds is usually a question of fact. Context matters more than size. Layout, use, access and the connection with the home can all matter.
How to analyse it
Work through the facts in order. Clear plans and dated site records often help more than a contract label.
- List every building, parcel of land, right, parking space and garage included in the purchase.
- Identify the tax date for the deal, including whether substantial performance happened before completion.
- Ask whether there was a building used or suitable as one home on that date.
- If work was under way, check whether it was genuine construction or adaptation for a home.
- If it was off-plan, check the contract date, the tax date and whether work had begun.
- For land, ask whether it was occupied or enjoyed with the home as garden or grounds.
- For a separate garage or right, ask whether it existed for the benefit of the home.
- Check whether the building falls within an excluded type of communal accommodation.
Example
Maya’s purchase includes a partly built house, its garden and a parking space in a nearby block. Dated photographs and the builder’s records show that construction had started before the tax date.
The house can count as a home under the construction part of the test, and the garden and parking space may be considered with it. If Maya instead buys an empty plot and only intends to start building later, that intention does not produce the same result.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Between a bare plot and a finished house lie the hard cases, where a half-cleared site, early groundwork or a proposed conversion may require close evidence of what had happened by the tax date. Evidence matters.
Land can cause a separate problem. Title plans do not decide this. Depending on how people used and enjoyed it, rather than simply on the title boundary, a field, garage or strip of land may be part of the home.
- Planning permission shows what may be built. It does not by itself prove that building work had begun.
- A future building plan is different from a building already being constructed or adapted.
- A separate title does not automatically prevent land or a garage benefiting the home.
- Equally, being sold in the same deal does not automatically make every parcel part of the home.
- Council tax and business-rates records can help, but they are evidence rather than the legal test.
HMRC’s manual explains its approach, but it is guidance rather than law. Where the facts are close, the statutory wording and the evidence at the relevant time remain central.
Key takeaways
- The surcharge needs an actual home, not simply land for a future project.
- Gardens, grounds and separate facilities may be included if they go with or benefit the home.
- For a build or off-plan purchase, dates and contemporaneous records can decide the answer.
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 75ZA — increased SDLT rates for non-resident transactions; schedule defining non-resident transactions
- FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 2 — home required as main subject of purchase
- FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 20 — meaning of a home for the surcharge; off-plan homes treated as homes; garden and grounds included with a home; separate rights benefiting a home included; certain communal accommodation excluded from the definition
- FA 2003 section 44 — tax date where a contract is substantially performed; when a contract is substantially performed
- FA 2003 section 116 — residential uses treated as homes; residential accommodation excluded as homes; effect of excluded institutional use
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 boundary between land enjoyed with a home and land with a separate purpose can be difficult to draw from plans alone.
- It can be unclear whether construction or adaptation had actually started by the relevant tax date without dated records.
- The bundled Finance Act 2003 text is recorded as current only to 17 November 2025. Current legislation and any changes after that date need checking before publication or use for a later transaction.
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.
- Signed contract, transfer and completion statement — what was bought and the dates that matter for the tax treatment
- Land Registry title and filed plan for every parcel — the precise land, garage, parking space or rights included in the deal
- Dated site photographs and aerial images — the state of the building, land and any construction work at the relevant time
- Planning permission, approved plans and building-control records — the authorised work and evidence of when building or adaptation began
- Builder’s contract, invoices, site diary and inspection records — whether physical construction or adaptation was already under way
- Sales particulars, brochure, floor plans and marketing photographs — how the property, grounds and any separate facilities were presented at sale
- Room-by-room record of use at completion — whether a building or part of it was then used as a single home
- Council tax and business-rates records — useful supporting evidence about occupation, though not a final legal answer
- Garage lease, parking licence or management-company documents — whether a separate space existed for the benefit of the home
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 What Counts as a Home for the Non-UK Resident SDLT Surcharge? [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 75ZA - increased SDLT rates for non-resident transactions https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/75ZA/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 75ZA - schedule defining non-resident transactions https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/75ZA/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 2 - home required as main subject of purchase https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/2/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 20 - meaning of a home for the surcharge https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/20/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 20 - off-plan homes treated as homes https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/20/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 20 - garden and grounds included with a home https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/20/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 20 - separate rights benefiting a home included https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/20/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 20 - certain communal accommodation excluded from the definition https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/20/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 44 - tax date where a contract is substantially performed https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/44/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 44 - when a contract is substantially performed https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/44/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 116 - residential uses treated as homes https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/116/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 116 - residential accommodation excluded as homes https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/116/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 116 - effect of excluded institutional use https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/116/2025-11-17 Guidance page from HMRC on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm09865 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 boundary between land enjoyed with a home and land with a separate purpose can be difficult to draw from plans alone. - It can be unclear whether construction or adaptation had actually started by the relevant tax date without dated records. - The bundled Finance Act 2003 text is recorded as current only to 17 November 2025. Current legislation and any changes after that date need checking before publication or use for a later transaction. 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: What Counts as a Home for the Non-UK Resident SDLT Surcharge?
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