Stamp duty on linked leases: how successive leases are treated
Successive linked leases
Where linked leases cover the same or substantially the same premises, SDLT can treat them as one lease from the date of the first grant.
- The combined term is used.
- The rent under all leases is brought together.
- Premiums and other non-rent payments need separate consideration.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Stamp duty on linked leases: how successive leases are treated
Stamp duty on linked leases: how successive leases are treated
If you take a series of linked leases over the same place, stamp duty may treat them as one longer lease. That can change the SDLT calculation on the rent. The combined deal matters, not only the first document you sign.
What this rule is about
Businesses sometimes replace one lease with another, or agree several leases as parts of one plan. You might think each lease stands alone. In some cases, it does not.
The law gives connected series a single assessment. For stamp duty purposes, it can combine the leases into a single notional lease.
This is not a rule for every renewal. Two key questions come first: do the leases cover the same, or almost the same, premises? And are they linked?
What the official source says
HMRC’s manual explains the statutory rule for successive linked leases. When parties grant, or the law treats them as granting, leases over the same or substantially the same premises, and those grants form linked transactions, the legislation applies. All of those conditions matter.
- The parties may grant the leases at the same time or at different times.
- They must concern the same or substantially the same premises.
- The parties must link them, usually through one scheme, arrangement or series involving the same parties or connected people.
- For SDLT, the law treats the series as one lease granted when the first lease was granted.
- The term of that notional lease is the total of all the lease terms.
- The rent used is the rent payable under every lease in the series.
In broad terms, you can then ignore the later leases for SDLT. There is an important exception: a later linked transaction can create a duty to file a return, or a further return, for the earlier transaction.
Apply the normal SDLT rules separately to a premium or another payment that is not rent. HMRC’s manual is guidance, not the law itself.
What this means in practice
Where this rule applies, calculate the rent across the whole series rather than lease by lease. Use one deemed lease. It has one start date, one combined term and all the rent.
Where the same parties or connected people use a new document as part of a planned sequence covering the same or substantially the same premises, that document may continue the series rather than create a separate deal. Context decides.
- Keep every version of the lease, not just the current one.
- Compare the plans and the space covered by each lease.
- Check whether the parties are the same or connected.
- Read side letters, agreements for lease and renewal discussions for links between the grants.
- Separate rent from premiums and other payments.
- Check whether the later lease changes the SDLT result for the first one.
How to analyse it
Start with the documents and the timeline. Do not begin by adding figures. First work out whether the statutory rule applies at all.
- List each lease in date order, including any lease treated as granted.
- Identify the premises under each lease and compare the plans.
- Ask whether they are the same or substantially the same place.
- Ask whether the grants form one scheme, arrangement or series.
- Check whether the parties are the same or connected.
- If the rule applies, add the terms of all the leases.
- Bring together the rent under all of them for the single-lease calculation.
- Then consider any premium or other non-rent payment separately.
- Check whether a later grant means an earlier SDLT return needs updating.
Example
Illustration: Priya takes a two-year lease of a unit. It provides for rent of £10,000 a year. Under the same wider arrangement, she then takes a three-year lease of substantially the same unit at £12,000 a year, followed by a five-year lease at £15,000 a year.
If the grants are linked, the law treats the series as a single lease from the date the first lease began. Adding the terms produces ten years: two plus three plus five. Calculate using the rent under all three leases, not the rent under each lease viewed separately.
The figures alone cannot establish the SDLT due. They show the point of the rule: the combined arrangement drives the rent calculation.
Why this can be difficult in practice
People often get this part wrong. A lease may have a new term, a revised plan or a different rent, yet still concern substantially the same premises. Equally, a later lease may represent a genuinely separate deal.
Labels rarely settle it. Whether the grants are linked depends on the real arrangement and the documents, not on calling a document a renewal, replacement or fresh lease. Those details matter.
- A small change to the leased area may or may not stop the rule applying.
- Different companies may still be connected for SDLT purposes.
- A gap between leases does not automatically mean they are unrelated.
- A non-rent payment should not simply be added to the rent calculation.
- A relief or exemption on the first lease needs checking against the actual terms of that relief.
Key takeaways
- SDLT can treat linked leases of the same or almost the same premises as one lease.
- The deemed lease combines the terms and rent of the whole series.
- Check the full arrangement, the plans, the parties and any separate payments.
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 108 — when land transactions count as linked
- FA 2003 Schedule 17A para 5 — treatment of successive linked leases
- FA 2003 section 81A — returns after a later linked transaction
- FA 2003 section 55 — how SDLT is charged on non-rent payments
- FA 2003 section 57A — exemption for qualifying sale and leaseback leasebacks
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
- Whether premises are the same or substantially the same can depend on the lease plans, boundaries and rights granted.
- Whether leases form one arrangement or series is a fact-sensitive question.
- The SDLT amount cannot be worked out from lease terms alone; the rent, any non-rent payments, property type and effective date can matter.
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.
- All lease agreements, variations and renewal documents
- Plans showing the premises covered by each lease
- A timeline of grants and effective dates
- Rent schedules and records of any premiums or other payments
- Evidence of the commercial arrangement and relationships between the parties
- Documents supporting any relief or exemption claimed for the first lease
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 on linked leases: how successive leases are treated [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 108 - when land transactions count as linked https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/108/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 17A para 5 - treatment of successive linked leases https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/17A/paragraph/5/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 81A - returns after a later linked transaction https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/81A/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 55 - how SDLT is charged on non-rent payments https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/55/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 57A - exemption for qualifying sale and leaseback leasebacks https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/57A/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/sdltm17040 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 - Whether premises are the same or substantially the same can depend on the lease plans, boundaries and rights granted. - Whether leases form one arrangement or series is a fact-sensitive question. - The SDLT amount cannot be worked out from lease terms alone; the rent, any non-rent payments, property type and effective date can matter. 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 on linked leases: how successive leases are treated
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