NHS Trusts and Boards: Land Transaction Tax Exemptions and Relief Claims

SDLT exemption for purchases by certain NHS and health service bodies

Certain NHS and equivalent public health bodies can buy land in England or Northern Ireland without paying Stamp Duty Land Tax, but only if the legal buyer is one of the specific bodies named in the rules. The exemption is not based on healthcare use or NHS connection alone, and it must be claimed properly in the SDLT return or by amending the return.

• The exemption applies only to named bodies such as NHS England, integrated care boards, NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts, certain Welsh NHS bodies, and Northern Ireland Health and Social Services trusts.
• The key test is the legal identity of the purchaser shown in the transaction documents, not who benefits from the purchase or how the property will be used.
• A company, subsidiary, joint venture, or other connected vehicle does not qualify just because it is linked to an NHS body.
• The relief must be claimed in the land transaction return, or later by amending that return if it was missed.
• HMRC says the claim should be made using code 28, labelled “Other reliefs”, in question 9 of the SDLT return.

Scroll down for the full analysis.

SDLT relief for purchases by NHS bodies and related health trusts

This page explains a specific Stamp Duty Land Tax exemption for certain public health bodies. If the buyer is one of the NHS organisations listed in the legislation, the land transaction can be exempt from SDLT. The point matters because the exemption is not automatic in practice: it must be claimed in the land transaction return or by amending that return.

What this rule is about

SDLT is normally charged when land in England or Northern Ireland is bought. However, some transactions are relieved or exempt because of the identity of the purchaser. This page deals with one of those special cases: purchases by certain NHS and equivalent health service bodies.

The rule is narrow. It does not apply to all organisations connected with healthcare, and it does not turn on how the land will be used. The key question is whether the purchaser is one of the bodies specifically named.

What the official source says

The official HMRC material says that a land transaction is exempt from charge where the purchaser is one of the following:

• NHS England
• an integrated care board established under section 14Z25 of the National Health Service Act 2006
• an NHS trust established under section 25 of the National Health Service Act 2006
• an NHS foundation trust
• a Local Health Board established under section 11 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006
• a National Health Service trust established under section 18 of that Act
• a Health and Social Services trust established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991

The HMRC manual also says that the relief must be claimed in a land transaction return or in an amendment to that return. HMRC directs filers to use code 28, described as “Other reliefs”, at question 9 of the return.

What this means in practice

If the buyer is one of the listed bodies, the transaction is exempt from SDLT. In practical terms, that means no SDLT is payable on the chargeable transaction, provided the claim is made correctly.

The main practical issue is identifying the purchaser correctly. The exemption depends on the legal identity of the buyer, not on the wider NHS group, the public benefit of the purchase, or the fact that a property will be used for healthcare.

So, for example, a purchase by an NHS foundation trust is within the rule because that type of body is expressly listed. By contrast, a purchase by a separate company associated with an NHS body would not fall within this exemption unless that company itself is one of the listed purchasers.

The manual also makes clear that a claim is required. Even where the purchaser plainly qualifies, the return still needs to reflect the relief. If the return was filed without the claim, the source says the position can be corrected by amending the return.

How to analyse it

A sensible way to approach this exemption is to ask the following questions:

• Who is the legal purchaser named in the transaction documents?
• Is that purchaser exactly one of the bodies listed in the rule?
• If the purchaser is said to be an NHS trust, integrated care board, Local Health Board, or similar body, can its statutory status be identified clearly?
• Has the SDLT return claimed the exemption using the correct relief entry?
• If the return has already been filed without the claim, does it need to be amended?

The most important step is to separate the legal purchaser from anyone involved commercially or operationally. The exemption is based on the purchaser’s status, not on funding arrangements, intended healthcare use, or the public sector context more generally.

Example

Illustration: an NHS foundation trust buys a freehold property to use for clinical services. On the facts given in the HMRC material, the buyer is one of the listed bodies, so the transaction is exempt from SDLT. The exemption should be claimed in the land transaction return using the relief code HMRC specifies.

By contrast, if the property were bought by a separate property company set up to support the trust, the exemption would not follow automatically from the trust’s involvement. The key question would still be whether the actual purchaser is one of the listed bodies.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The legal rule itself is short, but difficulties can arise where the structure is more complicated than a direct purchase by the health body.

One common area of uncertainty is where land is acquired through a subsidiary, joint venture vehicle, nominee arrangement, or another body connected with the NHS purchaser. The source material does not extend the exemption to connected entities generally. That means the exact legal identity of the purchaser matters.

Another practical issue is administrative rather than legal: the transaction may be exempt, but the claim still has to be made in the return or by amendment. If the filing does not match the legal position, the exemption may not be reflected correctly.

The HMRC manual is also operational guidance, not the legislation itself. It is useful for understanding HMRC’s stated position and filing requirements, but the underlying legal entitlement depends on whether the purchaser falls within the statutory categories.

Key takeaways

• This SDLT exemption applies only where the purchaser is one of the specific NHS or equivalent health bodies listed.
• The buyer’s legal identity is the critical issue; healthcare use or NHS connection on its own is not enough.
• The exemption must be claimed in the SDLT return or by amending the return, using HMRC’s stated relief code.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: NHS Trusts and Boards: Land Transaction Tax Exemptions and Relief Claims

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