I have several rental properties, but I have been renting since 2009 when I sold my marital home (only my name is on the mortgage). My husband has his own residential home which he has not lived in since 2008, and has been letting it out since then (only his name is on the mortgage). We do not own any assets jointly. We now want to buy a residential home to live in. We intend to do this by re-mortgaging his house and one of my rental properties. Am I, as an individual, exempt from the extra 3% stamp duty land tax (SDLT) as I had sold my marital home more than three years ago? I do not have any residential assets. Are we exempt as a couple if we make a joint purchase? My husband has one residential asset.

Arthur Weller replies:
If you look at Example 1 on page 33 of www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/570876/SDLT_Higher_rates_for_additional_properties.pdf you can see that if a married couple lived together in a main residence owned by just one of them, and that spouse sells that main residence, and then they jointly buy a new main residence together, then the extra 3% SDLT will not apply. You mentioned that you sold your home more than three years ago. If you look there on page 11 in sections 3.19A and 3.20 you can see that the three-year rule applies to purchases on or after 27 November 2018, but for purchases on or before 26 November 2018 it does not apply.