Policy paper

Draft legislation — Stamp Duty Land Tax exemption (accessible version)

Published 6 March 2024

1. Exemption from SDLT: registered providers of social housing etc

(1) Section 71 of FA 2003 (certain acquisitions by registered social landlord) is amended as follows

(2) In the heading, for “registered social landlord” substitute “registered providers of social housing etc”.

(3) In subsection (1), for paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a)  the purchaser is a non-profit registered provider of social housing controlled by its tenants,”.

(4) In subsection (1A)—

(a) for paragraph (b) substitute—

“(b) a housing association registered in the register maintained under Article 14 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (S.I. 1992/1725 (N.I. 15)), or
(c) an English local authority that is a registered provider of social housing.”, and

(b) omit the “or” after paragraph (a).

(5) In subsection (2) for “relevant housing provider”, in each place it occurs, substitute “non-profit registered provider of social housing”.

(6) In subsection (3)—

(a) omit paragraphs (b) and (e) to (g);
(b) for paragraph (h) substitute—

“(h) the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland, or”.

(7) In subsection (4) omit paragraphs (b) and (d) (but not the “or” after paragraph (d)).

(8) In subsection (5)—

(a) after “means” insert “—

(a) any amount that is receipts of the disposal of social housing, provided the purchaser is entitled to use the amount for the purpose of the provision of social housing, or
(b) ”, and

(b) in paragraph (b) (which is a result of the previous amendment) omit the words from “within” to the end.

(9) After subsection (5) insert—

“(6) In subsection (5) “social housing” has the meaning it has in Part 2 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (see, in particular, section 68 of that Act).

(7) In this section “English local authority” means —

(a) principal council within the meaning of the Local Government Act 1972, or
(b) the Common Council of the City of London.”

(10) In section 121 of FA 2003 (minor definitions) omit the definition of “registered social landlord”.

(11) In section 122 of FA 2003 (index of defined expressions) omit the entry for “registered social landlord”.

(12) The amendments made by this section have effect in relation to land transactions the effective date of which falls on or after 6 March 2024.

(13) In consequence of those amendments, in section 150 of FA 2013 (annual tax on enveloped dwellings: relief for providers of social housing etc)—

(a) in subsection (2)(a)—

(i) for “relevant” substitute “qualifying”, and
(ii) omit the words from “(that” to “landlord)”;

(b) in subsection (3), for “relevant”, in each place it occurs, substitute “qualifying”;

(c) for paragraphs (a) to (c) in subsection (4) substitute—

“(a) subsection (2) of section 71 of FA 2003 applies in relation to a reference to a qualifying housing provider controlled by its tenants as it applies to a reference in that section to a non-profit registered provider of social housing controlled by its tenants;

(b) “qualifying body” means—

(i) anything described as a qualifying body in subsection (3) of that section,
(ii) the Scottish Ministers,
(iii) a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, or
(iv) Scottish Homes;

(c) “public subsidy” means—

(i) anything that is a public subsidy for the purposes of section 71 of FA 2003, and for the purposes of this section the reference in subsection (5)(a) of that section to “the purchaser” is to be treated as a reference to P or the qualifying housing provider (as the case may be);
(ii) any grant or other financial assistance under section 18 of the Housing Act 1996 (c. 52) (social housing grants);
(iii) any grant or other financial assistance under section 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 (c. 43) (general functions of the Scottish Ministers);

(d) “qualifying housing provider” means—

(i) a relevant housing provider (within the meaning of section 71 of FA 2003),
(ii) a body registered as a social landlord in a register maintained under section 1(1) of the Housing Act 1996 (Welsh registered social landlords), or
(iii) a body registered under section 20(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 17) (Scottish registered social landlords).”

(14) Subsection (13) is to be treated as having come into force on 6 March 2024.