Stamp Duty Rebate Refund on Homes Bought in the past 4 years

Swindle56

Ive seen many adverts for this (from various solicitors) and today have received a letter from "stamp duty rebate ltd"

All state that if you purchased a house in the past 4 years which had defects / required repair works that you could be due £10,000's in a no win no fee scenario.

On their website it states:

In 2019, a First Tier Tribunal heard a case known as ‘The Bewley Case’ (P N Bewley Ltd v HMRC [2019] TC6951) that set a further legal precedence for reducing high rates of Stamp Duty. Bewley successfully argued that, since his property suffered from substantial defects at the time of purchase, he should have been charged the non-residential rate of stamp duty, rather than the higher residential rate.
The Tribunal ruled that where a residential property was not suitable for use as a dwelling, the lower non-residential rate of stamp duty should have been applied. We can advance claims based on the following (non-exhaustive list of) defects:

• Defective Heating System
• Unsafe Electrics
• Damp/Mould/Rot
• Structural Issue
• Non-operational Bathroom or Kitchen
• Subsidence
• Asbestos
• Severe Roof Leaks

If you purchased a residential property which suffered from any of the above, or similar defects, you might be eligible for a stamp duty rebate.

Im just wondering if these are real or another emissions claim type scam where the money awarded ends up being small and then 50% eaten by the solicitors. 

Anyone had any experience?

We bought our newbuild in 2019 and paid over £70k in SLDT as we already owned a property even though this is our main residence.. There were approximately 500 minor defects including a shower leaking through from one bathroom to the next, heating incorrectly wired, etc, etc but not sure this is severe enough to qualify?

user1977

You'd need to prove that the property was so uninhabitable that it didn't qualify as a "dwelling" in SDLT terms. That's quite a high bar - think complete ruins, not newbuilds with some bits of snagging here and there.

Read the case in question - it was a bungalow which was only suitable for demolition.

housebuyer143

Swindle56 said:

Ive seen many adverts for this (from various solicitors) and today have received a letter from "stamp duty rebate ltd"

All state that if you purchased a house in the past 4 years which had defects / required repair works that you could be due £10,000's in a no win no fee scenario.

On their website it states:

In 2019, a First Tier Tribunal heard a case known as ‘The Bewley Case’ (P N Bewley Ltd v HMRC [2019] TC6951) that set a further legal precedence for reducing high rates of Stamp Duty. Bewley successfully argued that, since his property suffered from substantial defects at the time of purchase, he should have been charged the non-residential rate of stamp duty, rather than the higher residential rate.
The Tribunal ruled that where a residential property was not suitable for use as a dwelling, the lower non-residential rate of stamp duty should have been applied. We can advance claims based on the following (non-exhaustive list of) defects:

• Defective Heating System
• Unsafe Electrics
• Damp/Mould/Rot
• Structural Issue
• Non-operational Bathroom or Kitchen
• Subsidence
• Asbestos
• Severe Roof Leaks

If you purchased a residential property which suffered from any of the above, or similar defects, you might be eligible for a stamp duty rebate.

Im just wondering if these are real or another emissions claim type scam where the money awarded ends up being small and then 50% eaten by the solicitors. 

Anyone had any experience?

We bought our newbuild in 2019 and paid over £70k in SLDT as we already owned a property even though this is our main residence.. There were approximately 500 minor defects including a shower leaking through from one bathroom to the next, heating incorrectly wired, etc, etc but not sure this is severe enough to qualify?

The property basically needs to be derelict to qualify,as in not habitable, can't be called a dwelling. Minor repair jobs will not cut it or else everyone would be doing it