Lease Continuation by Tacit Relocation: SDLT Changes in Scotland

SDLT and Scottish Leases Continued by Tacit Relocation

If a Scottish lease carries on automatically by tacit relocation, the main tax point is that SDLT generally does not apply to Scottish land transactions from April 2015 onwards. Instead, the relevant tax is usually Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), so older HMRC SDLT guidance should not be treated as current for post-April 2015 Scottish cases.

• Tacit relocation is a Scots law rule under which a lease can continue automatically after its fixed term ends unless properly terminated.
• HMRC’s SDLT guidance on this topic is archived because SDLT stopped applying to Scottish land transactions from April 2015.
• For Scottish leases continuing from April 2015 onwards, the correct tax regime is generally LBTT rather than SDLT.
• The first practical check is where the property is and when the transaction or lease continuation took place.
• Older SDLT materials may still appear in searches, but they can mislead readers dealing with current Scottish transactions.
• Historic or transitional cases, especially around April 2015, may still need careful review to decide whether SDLT or LBTT applies.

Scroll down for the full analysis.

SDLT and Scottish leases: continuation by tacit relocation

This page is about what happens for Stamp Duty Land Tax when a Scottish lease continues by tacit relocation. The source material is very brief, but the practical point is important: SDLT no longer applies to Scottish land transactions from April 2015, because Scotland moved to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax instead.

What this rule is about

Tacit relocation is a concept in Scots law. Broadly, it refers to a lease continuing automatically after its original term ends, unless one of the parties brings it to an end in the proper way. For tax purposes, the question is whether that continuation creates any SDLT consequence.

The source page sits within HMRC material on SDLT notifications, but it has been archived because the tax position for Scottish land changed from April 2015.

What the official source says

The official source says that the page is archived and that, from April 2015, SDLT no longer applies to land transactions in Scotland. Instead, those transactions are subject to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

In other words, HMRC is signalling that SDLT guidance on Scottish lease continuation is no longer the operative tax guidance for post-April 2015 Scottish transactions.

What this means in practice

If you are looking at a Scottish lease that continued by tacit relocation from April 2015 onwards, SDLT is generally not the tax to analyse. The relevant regime is LBTT, not SDLT.

This matters because a reader may find old HMRC SDLT material about Scottish leases and assume it still governs the position. The archived notice tells you not to do that for Scottish land transactions from April 2015 onwards.

The practical first question is therefore not whether tacit relocation has happened, but which tax regime applies at all.

How to analyse it

A sensible way to approach the issue is:

• Identify where the land is. If the land is in Scotland, that is the starting point for deciding whether SDLT or LBTT applies.
• Check the timing. The source states that from April 2015 SDLT no longer applies to Scottish land transactions.
• Work out whether you are dealing with an old historic SDLT issue or a post-April 2015 Scottish transaction. Historic transactions may still need SDLT analysis, but current Scottish transactions generally need LBTT analysis.
• If the lease has continued automatically after expiry, recognise that the property-law concept of tacit relocation may still matter, but the tax consequences must be considered under the correct tax code.

Example

Illustration: A tenant occupies commercial premises in Scotland under a lease that reaches the end of its stated term. Neither side serves the necessary notice to end it, and the lease continues by tacit relocation. If this continuation is being considered after April 2015, the archived HMRC SDLT page indicates that SDLT is not the relevant tax regime for the Scottish land transaction. The question should instead be considered under LBTT rules.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The difficulty is that older HMRC material on SDLT and Scottish leases still appears in searches and can be mistaken for current guidance. The archived notice is short, so it does not explain the detailed consequences of tacit relocation under LBTT. That means readers can identify that SDLT is no longer the right regime, but they will still need to move to the Scottish tax framework to answer the substantive tax question.

Another practical complication is timing. Some matters involve leases granted before April 2015, continued afterwards, or historic compliance questions. In those cases, the transition between SDLT and LBTT may need careful analysis. The source itself does not resolve those transitional details.

Key takeaways

• The HMRC page is archived because SDLT stopped applying to Scottish land transactions from April 2015.
• If a Scottish lease continues by tacit relocation after that point, the relevant tax regime is generally LBTT, not SDLT.
• The main practical risk is relying on old SDLT guidance for a Scottish transaction that now falls within the Scottish tax system.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Lease Continuation by Tacit Relocation: SDLT Changes in Scotland

View all HMRC SDLT Guidance Pages Here