LTT multiple homes relief: the 3% minimum tax rule from 13 February 2026
3% minimum LTT rule
For purchases of more than one home in Wales, the minimum tax under multiple dwellings relief rises from 1% to 3% from 13 February 2026.
- Older contracts may remain under the 1% rule.
- Later changes can remove that protection.
- Check the contract, payments, possession and linked purchases.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
LTT multiple homes relief: the 3% minimum tax rule from 13 February 2026
LTT multiple homes relief: the 3% minimum tax rule
If you are buying more than one home in Wales, the Land Transaction Tax (LTT) relief may now have a higher minimum payment. From 13 February 2026, the minimum rises from 1% to 3% in many cases. This is Wales’s property purchase tax, not stamp duty.
What this rule is about
When more than one home is bought at once, multiple dwellings relief may apply, although it does not always reduce the LTT bill as much as buyers expect. It can change how LTT is worked out.
The law sets a floor. For purchases caught by the new rule, the tax on the part relating to the homes cannot be less than 3% of the amount paid for them.
The key date is 13 February 2026. Yet an older contract can sometimes stay under the former 1% minimum rule.
What the official source says
The official guidance says the 3% minimum applies to transactions with an effective date on or after 13 February 2026. The effective date is usually completion. It can be earlier where the contract has been substantially performed.
- The new minimum rises from 1% to 3%.
- A contract exchanged and substantially performed before 13 February 2026 is outside the new rules.
- A contract exchanged before that date but completed later can also stay outside them.
- That protection applies only if none of the listed exceptions applies.
- A later linked purchase may remain outside the new rules where it is linked to an earlier eligible purchase and that earlier purchase meets the required conditions.
- The earlier linked purchase must have an effective date before 13 February 2026.
Substantial performance has a specific meaning. It may arise when you, or someone connected with you, take possession, or when all or substantially all of the amount due has been paid or provided.
What this means in practice
Although the exchange date matters, it does not provide the whole answer. Later events can decide whether the old 1% floor survives.
This is the part people can miss: even a small-looking change after 13 February 2026 may bring the new 3% minimum into play.
- Keep the dated signed contract.
- Check whether anyone changed its terms after 13 February 2026.
- Check whether rights under it moved to another buyer.
- Check whether an option or pre-emption right was used after that date.
- Review any resale or subsale before completion.
- Consider every connected purchase when deciding whether purchases are linked.
How to analyse it
Begin with the facts rather than the deal’s label. A linked purchase means purchases that form one scheme, arrangement or series between the same buyer and seller, or people connected with them.
- Is the purchase one for which the relief for buying multiple homes can be claimed?
- What is its effective date?
- Was the contract exchanged before 13 February 2026?
- Was it substantially performed before that date?
- Did completion take place after that date?
- Did any listed exception happen on or after that date?
- Is there an earlier linked purchase that qualifies for the transitional protection?
Put the question in the right order: is this genuinely an older protected contract, or did something later change its tax treatment? The answer may affect a large sum.
Example
Illustration: Nia agrees to buy two homes for £600,000 before 13 February 2026. The contract completes after that date. If the transitional protection applies, the former 1% minimum would be £6,000. If Nia varies the contract on or after 13 February 2026, the official guidance says the new 3% minimum applies instead. On £600,000, that floor would be £18,000.
Why this can be difficult in practice
A contract date may appear to settle the issue. It does not. The guidance considers later changes and who ultimately has the right to require the transfer.
Some facts need careful checking. For example, taking possession before completion may count as substantial performance. So may paying almost all of the price.
- Even where the original exchange was earlier, a change to the contract after the key date can matter if it affects the transaction’s treatment.
- An assignment of rights on or after the key date can matter.
- A later arrangement involving only part of the land can matter.
- A linked deal needs a full review of the parties and the overall arrangement.
- The effective date may not simply be the completion date.
Key takeaways
- The minimum LTT payment under this relief rises to 3% from 13 February 2026.
- Older exchanged contracts may keep the 1% minimum, but only under the transitional rules.
- Later changes, assignments and related arrangements can remove that protection.
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
- LTTA 2017 Schedule 13 para 3 — when relief for buying multiple homes can apply
- LTTA 2017 Schedule 13 para 6 — minimum tax on the home part of relief
- LTTA 2017 section 8 — when property purchases are treated as linked
- LTTA 2017 section 10 — tax dates for contracts completed by transfer
- LTTA 2017 section 14 — when a contract has been substantially performed
- LTTA 2017 section 71 — the usual effective date of a purchase
- The Land Transaction Tax (Modification of Relief for Acquisitions Involving Multiple Dwellings) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2025 — transitional rules for the new minimum tax (could not parse a provision)
Official guidance
The pages below are the Welsh Revenue Authority’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how the Welsh Revenue Authority 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. the Welsh Revenue Authority can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Where this is not settled
- The supplied official source calls the instrument the 2025 Regulations. The statutory bundle records the 13 February 2026 amendment to Schedule 13 as made by Regulations dated 2026. The instrument identity and citation should be checked against the published legislation before relying on it.
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
- Completion statements and the completion date
- Evidence of possession or payments made before 13 February 2026
- Any contract variations, assignments, options or pre-emption rights
- Details of related purchases, sellers and buyers
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 Land Transaction Tax (LTT), the tax on property in Wales. It replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax in Wales on 1 April 2018, and SDLT does not apply in Wales. MY QUESTION LTT multiple homes relief: the 3% minimum tax rule from 13 February 2026 [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 - LTTA 2017 Schedule 13 para 3 - when relief for buying multiple homes can apply https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/13/paragraph/3 - LTTA 2017 Schedule 13 para 6 - minimum tax on the home part of relief https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/13/paragraph/6 - LTTA 2017 section 8 - when property purchases are treated as linked https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/8 - LTTA 2017 section 10 - tax dates for contracts completed by transfer https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/10 - LTTA 2017 section 14 - when a contract has been substantially performed https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/14 - LTTA 2017 section 71 - the usual effective date of a purchase https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/71 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-relief-acquisitions-involving-multiple-dwellings-technical-guidance#7268 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from the Welsh Revenue Authority 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 - The supplied official source calls the instrument the 2025 Regulations. The statutory bundle records the 13 February 2026 amendment to Schedule 13 as made by Regulations dated 2026. The instrument identity and citation should be checked against the published legislation before relying on it. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 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 3 September 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: LTT multiple homes relief: the 3% minimum tax rule from 13 February 2026
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