When a lease assignment counts as a new lease for SDLT
Lease assignments and SDLT
A lease transfer may count as a new lease where the original grant used a listed SDLT relief.
- Check the original SDLT treatment
- Check for earlier transfers
- Scotland has used LBTT for these transactions since April 2015
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
When a lease assignment counts as a new lease for SDLT
A transfer of a lease can count as a brand-new lease for stamp duty. HMRC may then work out SDLT as if the old tenant had granted a lease to the new tenant.
What this rule is about
This is a narrow rule. It deals with leases that were originally granted using certain SDLT reliefs, then later transferred to someone else.
This rule stops parties from passing on a relieved lease without testing the transfer. Not every lease transfer is caught.
What the official source says
HMRC has archived the page. It says that SDLT stopped applying to land transactions in Scotland from April 2015, when Land and Buildings Transaction Tax took over there.
For England and Northern Ireland, the legislation says a transfer counts as a new lease only if all of these points apply:
- The original lease grant was exempt because of a listed relief.
- The transfer is the first one that is not also exempt under a listed relief.
- The new tenant does not hold it only as trustee for the old tenant.
- The new lease runs for the time left on the old lease.
- It has the terms on which the new tenant holds the lease.
What this means in practice
Do not look only at the price paid for the lease. You should first check how the lease was granted and whether a relief was used.
- Find the SDLT position when the lease began.
- Check whether any earlier transfer took place.
- Read the lease terms that apply after the transfer.
How to analyse it
Work through the documents in date order. Usually, the first grant is the key.
- Was the land in England or Northern Ireland?
- Which relief, if any, applied to the original grant?
- Is this the first transfer that does not have a listed exemption?
- Is the new tenant a genuine holder, rather than a bare trustee?
Example
Amir takes over a lease with three years left and annual rent of £60,000. A listed relief had applied to the original grant. If this is the first non-exempt transfer and Amir is not simply holding it for the old tenant, SDLT treats the transfer as a grant of a three-year lease on Amir’s lease terms.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Old lease files are often incomplete. A relief may be clear from the original SDLT return, but not from the lease itself.
There is also an exception where certain reliefs were already withdrawn before the transfer. That detail can change the result.
- Calling a transfer an assignment does not settle the SDLT answer.
- A trustee arrangement needs careful checking.
- Scottish land needs the separate Scottish tax rules after April 2015.
Key takeaways
- Some lease transfers count as new leases for SDLT.
- The original relief and transfer history matter.
- After April 2015, the archived HMRC page does not apply SDLT to Scotland.
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 48 — land interests covered by SDLT in England and Northern Ireland
- FA 2003 Schedule 17A para 11 — when a lease assignment counts as a new lease
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 supplied legislation is current only to 17 November 2025. A transaction after that date needs a current-law check.
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.
- The original lease and documents showing which relief applied on its grant
- The assignment document and its effective date
- Evidence of any earlier assignments
- Evidence of whether the new tenant acts only as trustee
- Details of any event that withdrew the original relief
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 When a lease assignment counts as a new lease for SDLT [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 48 - land interests covered by SDLT in England and Northern Ireland https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/48/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 17A para 11 - when a lease assignment counts as a new lease https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/17A/paragraph/11/2025-11-17 HMRC's guidance page on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm19680 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. HMRC guidance is HMRC's 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 supplied legislation is current only to 17 November 2025. A transaction after that date needs a current-law check. 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: When a lease assignment counts as a new lease for SDLT
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