In November 2017 the government bought in new rules regarding the stamp duty that is payable by first time buyers. In essence this meant that first time buyers who were buying a property worth under £300,000 would not have to pay any stamp duty as long as this was their first purchase.
As with all new legislation, there are always going to be questions about whether the rules apply to specific circumstances. In this case the question we are asking is ‘can you get first time buyer stamp duty relief on a buy-to-let purchase?’
When the announcement was made it was assumed that people would be buying their own home to live in and this was the aim of the legislation, to make it easier for first time buyers to get on the property ladder by reducing the amount of cash they had to find upfront.
Now that the details of the new rules have been released the clarification is in the Guidance Note and that specifies, in particular in the Third Condition:
“The third condition: The purchaser or purchasers are first time buyers intending to
occupy the dwelling as a main residence ……All the purchasers must intend to occupy the dwelling as their only or main residence”
Therefore, as we understand it, if a first time buyer is buying a property to let (perhaps they may plan on moving into it at a later date and just want to get on the property ladder for now) they will not be eligible for the first time buyer stamp duty relief.
If the property is a first purchase however, the rules regarding the extra 3% stamp duty payable would not apply, so if they were buying a property worth under £300,000 then the extra stamp duty should not be payable, but standard stamp duty will be.
There are also other rules regarding the stamp duty relief which cover properties costing up to £500,000 which you can read about here.