Glossary of terms and links to further guidance
Glossary of terms: A
Agent
Person acting on behalf of a party to the transaction, such as a solicitor, licensed conveyancer or accountant.
Alternative Property Finance
A relief from stamp duty land tax for additional land transactions where an individual finances a property purchase using an alternative mechanism not based on the payment of interest. SDLTM28000.
Glossary of terms: C
Chargeable consideration
Whatever is given by the purchaser to the vendor for the interest acquired. SDLTM03700.
Chattels
Moveable items that may be included in the purchase price of a property but are not chargeable to stamp duty land tax. SDLTM04010.
Commonhold
A new form of land ownership available in England & Wales as an alternative to the long leasehold ownership of flats and other types of inter-dependent properties. SDLTM00285.
Glossary of terms: D
Declaration
Question 71 on the land transaction return form SDLT1 that the purchaser(s) (or a person with power of attorney for the purchasers) have to sign. SDLTM07100.
Disadvantaged areas
Approximately 2000 areas of the United Kingdom identified by wards (postcode areas in Scotland) in which there is relief from stamp duty land tax for the purchase of residential properties where the chargeable consideration does not exceed £150,000. SDLTM20050.
Glossary of terms: E
Effective date
Date of completion or settlement of the purchase or date of 'substantial performance' of a contract, if earlier. SDLTM07700.
Encumbrance
A liability borne by property, for example a lease, mortgage, easement, restrictive covenant, rent charge. ('Encumbered' describes the property which bears that liability.)
Enquiry period
Period within which HM Revenue & Customs can make enquiries into the transaction, normally nine months from the filing date of the transaction. SDLTM80810.
Glossary of terms: F
Filing date
30 days after the 'effective date' of the transaction. SDLTM50100.
Fixtures
Items that are fixed to land or to a building and are treated as part of it and therefore chargeable to stamp duty land tax. SDLTM04010.
Glossary of terms: L
Land transaction
Every acquisition of a chargeable interest in land. SDLTM00260.
Liable person
The purchaser who is responsible for notification of the transaction and payment of the tax. SDLTM00060.
Linked transactions
Transactions that form part of a single scheme, arrangement or series of transactions. SDLTM30100.
Local authority codes
Numbers allocated to local authorities in the UK.
Glossary of terms: M
Major interest in land
Freehold and leasehold interests, in Scotland the interest of an owner of land or a tenant's interest subject to a lease. SDLTM04130.
Market value
The price which property might reasonably be expected to fetch on a sale in the open market. SDLTM04140.
Glossary of terms: N
NLPG UPRN
National Land and Property Gazetteer (in Northern Ireland 'Pointer') Unique Property Reference Number.
Glossary of terms: O
Option
The effective date for the grant of an option or right of pre-emption is when the option or right is acquired not when it becomes exercisable. SDLTM01300.
Glossary of terms: P
Partnership
For any transaction involving a partnership or where a person becomes a partner or increases their partnership interest. SDLTM33000+.
Peppercorn Rent
A nominal rent paid to keep alive the title.
Premium
A sum of money paid by a tenant to the landlord, usually at the start of a lease, in addition to the rent.
Purchaser
Any person acquiring the subject matter of the transaction, so it includes the tenant under a new lease.
Glossary of terms: R
Rack Rent
The full rent that a property could fetch if let in the open market for a year. The open market rent.
Rates of tax
The current rates of stamp duty land tax. SDLTM00050.
Registered Land
Land where the title is registered.
Reliefs
Relief may be due but the transaction has to be notified. SDLTM20000.
Reverse premium
A payment made by a landlord to a tenant as an inducement to the tenant to enter into a lease. SDLTM04110.
Right to buy
A purchase or acquisition of a lease of a dwelling at a discount from a public sector body listed in the legislation. SDLTM27000.
Glossary of terms: S
Self-certification
The Revenue certificate (form SDLT60) that supports an application for registration where an SDLT1 does not have to be completed.
Shared ownership lease
A scheme to partly buy and partly lease property, usually from a housing association or local authority. Over time an increasing share in the property may be acquired. The purchaser elects the way in which stamp duty land tax is calculated and paid. SDLTM27020.
Sub-sale (transfer of rights)
A sale that is evidenced by a contract that is not completed because the purchaser under the contact enters into a further contact with a new purchaser who completes the transaction by taking a conveyance of the property from the original vendor. SDLTM01060.
Substantial performance
Taking possession or payment of consideration under a contract: triggers a requirement to make a land transaction return. SDLTM07700.
Successive linked leases
Leases which run consecutively, but which are linked because the parties intended from the outset that the tenancy would embrace the term granted by each lease, or because the tenant in negotiating terms for the further lease obtains a benefit by virtue of the earlier occupation of the property that would not be available to anybody else negotiating a tenancy in the open market. See SDLTM13100.
