How to claim relief

You will need to submit a land transaction return (form SDLT 1), even though no tax is payable because the transaction qualifies for disadvantaged areas relief. In most cases your solicitor or conveyancer will do this for you.

Relief must be claimed at box 9 of form SDLT 1 using codes 05, 06 or 07. You do not need to pay the tax and claim it back later.

The return must be submitted within 30 days of the effective date of the transaction. Failure to do so will incur a penalty for late delivery of the return, whether or not stamp duty land tax is payable.

The onus is on the purchaser to check whether or not the relief is due. HMRC may open an enquiry into any aspect of a land transaction return, including claims to relief. You should retain evidence that your property qualifies for relief, to support your claim in case an enquiry is opened.

There is no need to create records that would not otherwise be available. Estate agents’ specifications, site plans, planning applications or permissions, marketing material, photographs and a print-out (“screenshot”) of the result of a search using our postcode search tool may all provide relevant information.