In P N Bewley v HMRC [2019] UKFTT 65 (28 January 2019) the FTT found that the higher SDLT rate for the purchase of additional residential properties (FA 2003 Sch 4ZA part 1) did not apply to a derelict building.
Mr Bewley had purchased a bungalow (previously occupied as a home by an old lady) which was described in a survey as being in a poor state of repair and requiring demolition due to the extensive presence of asbestos. The issue was whether at the date of completion the bungalow was ‘suitable for use as a single dwelling’ so that the higher rate of SDLT for additional residential properties applied.
The FTT accepted HMRC’s submission that ‘the dilapidation of a dwelling does not necessarily prevent it from being a dwelling’. It added however that the test in Sch 4ZA para 18 is whether the property was ‘suitable to...
