Ask an expert: the new annual charge for high-value residential property

Question:

We are property developers and about to buy a house for £3m in London for redevelopment to turn it into a number of apartments. Our acquisition vehicle is a UK resident company. No one connected with the buyer will ever live in any of the apartments and we hope to sell all of them as soon as we can. We know about the new 15% SDLT charge but someone said that there's also a new annual charge. What is this and how can I avoid it?

Answer:

If you are using a UK company as the acquisition vehicle to buy a single dwelling worth over £2m then you have two new things to...