Finance Act 2003

58 Relief for certain exchanges of residential property

(1) Where a dwelling (“the old dwelling”) is acquired from an individual (whether alone or with other individuals) by a house-building company or a company connected with a house-building company, the chargeable consideration for the acquisition is taken to be nil if—

(a) the individual (whether alone or with other individuals) acquires from the house-building company a new dwelling,

(b) the individual—

(i) occupied the old dwelling as his only or main residence immediately before its acquisition, and

(ii) intends to occupy the new dwelling as his only or main residence,

(c) each acquisition is entered into in consideration of the other, and

(d) the area of land acquired by the house-building company or the connected company does not exceed the permitted area.

(2) Where the conditions in subsection (1)(a) to (c) are met but the area of land acquired by the house-building company or the connected company exceeds the permitted area, the chargeable consideration for the acquisition is taken to be the amount calculated by deducting the market value of the permitted area from the market value of the old dwelling.

(3) “Dwelling” includes land occupied and enjoyed with the dwelling as its garden or grounds.

(4) A building or part of a building is a “new dwelling” if—

(a) it has been constructed for use as a single dwelling and has not previously been occupied, or

(b) it has been adapted for use as a single dwelling and has not been occupied since its adaptation.

(5) A “house-building company” means a company that carries on the business of constructing or adapting buildings or parts of buildings for use as dwellings.

Section 839 of the Taxes Act 1988 (connected persons) applies for the purpose of determining whether a company is connected with a house-building company.

(6) The “permitted area”, in relation to a dwelling, means land occupied and enjoyed with the dwelling as its garden or grounds that does not exceed—

(a) an area (inclusive of the site of the dwelling) of 0.5 of a hectare, or

(b) such larger area as is required for the reasonable enjoyment of the dwelling as a dwelling having regard to its size and character.

(7) Where subsection (6)(b) applies, the permitted area is taken to consist of that part of the old dwelling that would be the most suitable for occupation and enjoyment with the dwelling as its garden or grounds if the rest of the land were separately occupied.

(8) In this section—

(a) references to the acquisition of the new dwelling are to the acquisition, by way of grant or transfer, of a major interest in the dwelling;

(b) references to the acquisition of the old dwelling are to the acquisition, by way of transfer, of a major interest in the dwelling;

(c) references to the market value of a dwelling, or of an area of land, are to the market value of the major interest in the dwelling, or of that interest so far as it relates to the area in question.