Refund of SDLT on uninhabitable house

brenn864

I recently bought a house and I am unable to move in as the small works needed have now turned in to major works. I keep seeing adverts of no win no fee companies regarding claiming back your SDLT as you were unable to inhabit your property.

Can anyone advise if this is true, and is there anyone like the HMRC I should contact to enquire instead of going through a no win no fee company who take 55% off your refund. 

stig

A good starting point is the guidance here:-

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm00385

a lot of the  ‘no win no fee’ agents are generally pushing at the thin edge of the wedge i.e. putting in  ‘ a bit scruffy needs a new kitchen, window pane is cracked = uninhabitable” claims. You can go with them if you want, you may get your money back but lose a lot of the refund in fees, and if HMRC raise an enquiry and claw it back it will be you repaying 100% of the refund to them. 

Or if you think  your case is on all fours with the guidance, send in a letter to HMRC asking to amend your SDLT return to the non-resident rate. Just remember however that what counts is what you bought - you can’t buy a functioning (but dated) residence, strip it out and then claim it’s not fit to live in if the reason is what you did to it!

brenn864

Thats really helpful, thank you. I knew it would need new staircase, kitchen, bathroom, but we have since found woodworm throughout and some structural issues with the load bearing walls. What started as abit of a refurb has now turned in to a complete renovation

crowdsurfing

Hello. Thank you @stig for posting the link above to the manual.
Do you have a link to the form that needs filling out?

The only form I can find on HMRC is the one for if claiming back stamp duty on a 2nd home after first selling a primary residence.

But my isn’t that situation. 

I’m specifically looking for the form to evidence we couldn’t live in the house/uninhabitable.
thanks in advance.