SDLTM00365 - Scope: what is chargeable: land transactions: residential and non-residential property: definitions

(This page was amended on 01 October 2019)

Residential and non-residential

‘Residential property’ is defined in s116 as meaning:

‘(a) a building that is used or suitable for use as a dwelling, or is in the process of being constructed or adapted for such use, and

(b) land that is or forms part of the garden or grounds of a building within paragraph (a) (including any building or structure on such land), or

(c) an interest in or right over land that subsists for the benefit of a building within paragraph (a) or of land within paragraph (b).’

‘Non-residential property’ is defined by exclusion and means any property that is not within the residential property definition.

For guidance on (b) - garden or grounds please see SDLTM00440- SDLTM00480

The rules governing what is treated as residential property are varied by s116(7) which states that ‘where six or more separate dwellings are the subject of a single transaction involving the transfer of a major interest in, or the grant of a lease over, them, then… those dwellings are treated as not being residential property.’ However, this section does not apply where Multiple Dwellings Relief (see SDLTM29900) is claimed.