Is my property residential?

For the purposes of the relief, 'residential property' includes:

• a building which is used or suitable for use as a dwelling, or which is in the process of being constructed or adapted for such use;
• land which forms part of the garden or grounds of such a building, and
• a right or interest in such land.

Whether and to what extent a given property is residential will depend on the facts of each case.

However, where six or more separate dwellings are purchased in a single transaction, the transaction is treated as 'non-residential' and none of the land counts as residential property.

Statement of Practice SP1/2004 gives further information on the meaning of "residential property". It includes a tool (PDF 11K) which will help you to decide if your property is residential or non-residential.

Note that the Statement of Practice was published in 2004 and references to relief in respect of non-residential property do not apply to transactions where the effective date is on or after 17 March 2005.

Both the tool and the Statement of Practice are for guidance only and should not be regarded as a substitute for a proper construction of the legislation. Please contact us in cases of doubt, or where the facts are particularly complex.