Multiple dwellings relief abolished: the SDLT rules from June 2024
Multiple dwellings relief has ended
The SDLT relief for buying several homes at once was abolished for most transactions from 1 June 2024.
- Some contracts exchanged by 6 March 2024 remain protected.
- A later variation can prevent that protection.
- The separate rule for six or more homes still matters.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Multiple dwellings relief abolished: the SDLT rules from June 2024
Multiple dwellings relief abolished: the SDLT rules from June 2024
You will usually be unable to claim the relief when buying more than one home at once if the purchase completed, or was substantially performed, on or after 1 June 2024.
This can make a large difference to your stamp duty bill. Some contracts exchanged by 6 March 2024 may qualify for a limited saving.
What this rule is about
Multiple dwellings relief was a method for calculating SDLT where one purchase included more than one home. The legislation has now abolished it for most purchases.
The relevant date is not always the date on which you signed the contract.
Completion will usually be the key date. However, the law may treat a contract as taking effect earlier if it has been substantially performed.
For example, this can occur where the buyer takes possession or pays almost all of the price.
That detail can determine the result.
What the official source says
HMRC’s manual states that the relief ended for transactions completing, or substantially performed, on or after 1 June 2024. The legislation introduced this change.
HMRC also explains the protection available for certain older contracts.
- Buyers can still use the old relief if they exchanged the contract on or before 6 March 2024.
- That protection can apply even if completion happens after 1 June 2024.
- The parties must not have varied the contract after 6 March 2024.
- HMRC says there are separate transition rules for linked purchases on both sides of the change.
- When a buyer claimed relief on an earlier linked purchase, the legislation treats the later purchase as no longer linked to it for this purpose.
HMRC’s manual gives guidance on these rules, rather than law. The Finance Act provisions and the purchase facts determine the legal position.
What this means in practice
If you are now buying two to five homes in one deal, do not assume that the old relief will reduce your SDLT.
In most cases, you cannot use it. A contract date before the change may help, but only if the contract meets the transition conditions.
A separate important rule applies where a single transaction includes six or more separate homes. For SDLT, the law treats those homes as non-residential.
This is not multiple dwellings relief. It is a different rule with a different basis.
- Check the exchange date, not just the completion date.
- Check whether anyone changed the contract after 6 March 2024.
- Find out whether the seller handed over possession before completion.
- Check whether the buyer paid almost all of the price early.
- Count the separate homes included in the same transaction.
- Keep the six-home rule separate from the abolished relief.
How to analyse it
Start with the dates. Then review the contract papers and the shape of the deal.
Do not begin by assuming that a purchase of several flats or houses still qualifies for the former tax break.
- When did the parties exchange the contract?
- Did they exchange it on or before 6 March 2024?
- Did anyone vary the contract after that date?
- When did the purchase complete?
- Did substantial performance happen before completion?
- Do related purchases potentially form linked purchases?
- Does one transaction include six or more separate homes?
- If so, does the statutory six-home rule apply?
A linked purchase involves more than two purchases that happen near each other.
The statutory test asks whether they form one scheme, arrangement or series between the same parties, or connected people. The label in the paperwork will not resolve that question.
Example
Ravi exchanged contracts to buy three flats on 5 March 2024. He completed on 20 June 2024.
On the facts given, the later completion date does not automatically prevent the old relief. HMRC says the transitional protection can apply because exchange was by 6 March.
But Ravi may lose the protection if anyone varied the contract after that date.
Change one fact. If Ravi exchanged on 7 March 2024 and completed on 20 June, he cannot use the old relief under the rule described by HMRC.
The exchange date differs by only two days. It may affect the SDLT outcome considerably.
Why this can be difficult in practice
The dates may look simple on a file. In real life, they are not always simple.
A side letter, revised price, changed property list or other later agreement may matter when deciding whether anyone varied the contract.
Substantial performance creates another trap. You might think that no SDLT date can arise before completion.
That is wrong if the buyer takes possession, or if the payment position meets the statutory test.
- A later change may be more than an administrative update.
- An early move-in date can matter.
- Payments before completion need checking.
- Several purchases may be linked even if they have separate contracts.
- Six or more homes in one transaction raise the separate non-residential rule.
Key takeaways
- Multiple dwellings relief ended for most purchases from 1 June 2024.
- Older contracts may be protected if exchanged by 6 March 2024 and not later varied.
- A single purchase of six or more homes may instead fall under the non-residential rule.
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 2024 Schedule 6 para 1 — removal of the multiple homes relief rules
- FA 2024 Schedule 6 para 2 — transitional protection for older exchanged contracts
- FA 2024 Schedule 6 para 3 — treatment of linked purchases across the change
- FA 2003 section 44 — when a contract has been substantially performed
- FA 2003 section 108 — when land purchases are linked transactions
- FA 2003 section 116 — six or more homes treated as non-residential
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 statutory material is current only to 17 November 2025. Current primary legislation should be checked before relying on this page for a transaction after that date.
- Whether a contract was varied after 6 March 2024 may need careful review of the contract papers and later agreements.
- Whether purchases are linked depends on the facts, including whether they form one scheme, arrangement or series.
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 signed contract and its exchange date
- all later contract variations, side letters and amendments
- the date of completion and any earlier possession or major payment
- details of every related property purchase and the parties involved
- the number of separate homes included in each transaction
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 Multiple dwellings relief abolished: the SDLT rules from June 2024 [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 2024 Schedule 6 para 1 - removal of the multiple homes relief rules https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/3/schedule/6/paragraph/1 - FA 2024 Schedule 6 para 2 - transitional protection for older exchanged contracts https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/3/schedule/6/paragraph/2 - FA 2024 Schedule 6 para 3 - treatment of linked purchases across the change https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/3/schedule/6/paragraph/3 - FA 2003 section 44 - when a contract has been substantially performed https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/44/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 108 - when land purchases are linked transactions https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/108/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 116 - six or more homes treated as non-residential https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/116/2025-11-17 HMRC's guidance page on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm29901 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 statutory material is current only to 17 November 2025. Current primary legislation should be checked before relying on this page for a transaction after that date. - Whether a contract was varied after 6 March 2024 may need careful review of the contract papers and later agreements. - Whether purchases are linked depends on the facts, including whether they form one scheme, arrangement or series. 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: Multiple dwellings relief abolished: the SDLT rules from June 2024
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