UK Stamp Duty Refund Checker (2026)

Use the completion date, not the exchange date. Price is the total consideration (including any fixtures/chattels separately reported).

From your solicitor's completion statement or HMRC SDLT5 certificate.

Only tick commercial or uninhabitable if you can evidence it — photographs, surveys, commercial lease, etc., all dated at/around completion.

This unlocks the 3% surcharge refund route. The sale must have been within 3 years (1095 days) of the new purchase.

Each eligible route is shown with refund amount, deadline, actions, and warnings. Multiple routes can apply simultaneously.

For surcharge refunds, submit SDLT16 directly via gov.uk. For mixed-use / uninhabitable / MDR, engage a specialist solicitor now — don't leave it to the last month.

The 3% surcharge applies when you own another dwelling anywhere in the world at the moment of completion and the new property isn't replacing your main residence. If the old main residence is sold within 3 years, the surcharge is refundable. The 3% applies to the full purchase price, so on a £400k purchase the surcharge is £12,000 — a material refund. Claim via form SDLT16 within 12 months of sale or 12 months from filing, whichever is later. Most mortgage solicitors don't proactively submit this — it's your responsibility.

Hyman vs HMRC (2022) set a high bar for "mixed-use" — a residential property with a garden, paddock, or even a small outbuilding is generally NOT mixed-use for SDLT. HMRC now requires evidence of ongoing, substantial non-residential use: a commercially-let farm field, a leased commercial workshop, a shop with separate access, etc. Claims made purely on paddock size or "unused" commercial outbuildings have largely failed. Expect HMRC enquiry on any mixed-use claim; budget for representation.

P N Bewley Ltd vs HMRC (2019) established that a bungalow with asbestos, no functioning kitchen/bathroom and structural damage was "non-residential" for SDLT. Post-Bewley, dozens of chancers claimed uninhabitable status for properties with superficial disrepair. HMRC now requires the property to be incapable of use as a dwelling — not merely in poor condition or needing renovation. "Needs a new kitchen" is NOT uninhabitable. Evidence must be contemporaneous: builder reports, surveyor statements, council notices all dated at/around completion.

MDR was abolished for completions from 1 June 2024 following HMRC evidence that ~90% of claims were being made by non-landlord buyers inappropriately. For completions from June 2024, no direct equivalent exists — annexes are now taxed as part of a single residential transaction. Pre-June-2024 completions remain eligible, with a 12-month refund window from the original filing date.

Pair this with the Buy-to-Let Mortgage Calculator for ongoing BTL economics post-refund, the Property CGT Calculator for sale planning, and the Home-Buying Affordability Calculator for next-purchase budgeting.