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If you or your husband / wife or any other party to this transaction own any other properties, you might have to pay a higher rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).

Property owners purchasing an additional property to their main residence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be affected by the rise in SDLT. If you already own properties but plan to buy a permanent home to replace another, you are exempt from the paying the higher rate.

If you own two properties on the day of completion of the purchase of your second property but still legally own your first property and plan to sell, you are still obliged to pay the higher rate of SDLT. A refund is available if you sell your former residence property within 36 months.

A first time buyer is defined as an individual or individuals who have never owned an interest in a residential property in the United Kingdom or anywhere else in the world and who intends to occupy the property as their main residence.

There are two fundamentally different forms of legal ownership: freehold and leasehold. If you own the freehold, it means that you own the building and the land it stands on outright. With Leasehold, you own the lease from the freeholder (sometimes called the landlord) to use the home for a number of years.