Post-completion (SDLT/LTT, registration)

PP.05 — Post-completion (SDLT/LTT, registration)

After completion the buyer's solicitor has two priority jobs: pay the land tax and register the buyer (and any charge) at the Land Registry. Get the deadlines and the trigger figures right.

Land tax — SDLT (England, NI) / LTT (Wales)

• SDLT is governed by the Finance Act 2003. An SDLT return (form SDLT1) must be filed and the tax paid within 14 days of completion (the "effective date" — usually completion, but an earlier substantial performance can trigger it).
• Residential SDLT nil-rate threshold is £125,000; the first £125k is taxed at 0%, then banded rates apply above. Commercial/mixed use uses a separate non-residential table.
• Welsh land = Land Transaction Tax (LTT), administered by the Welsh Revenue Authority, NOT HMRC. Different thresholds and a 30-day filing deadline — do not apply SDLT rules to Welsh property.
• A return is generally required even where no tax is due (subject to limited exemptions). Surcharges apply: higher rates for additional dwellings, plus the 2% non-resident surcharge.

Registration — Land Registry

• The Land Registration Act 2002 governs. For registrable dispositions of registered land (transfer, grant of legal charge, lease >7 years) the buyer must apply to register; legal title does not pass until registration (LRA 2002 s.27 — registration is constitutive, not merely evidential).
• Priority search (OS1) gives a 30-working-day priority period — complete and lodge the application within it so the buyer takes free of intervening entries.
• First registration of previously unregistered land must be applied for within 2 months of completion (LRA 2002 s.6/s.7); miss it and the legal estate reverts to the seller on trust.

Common traps

• SDLT before registration: you cannot register without an SDLT5 certificate — pay the tax first, then register.
• 14 days (SDLT) vs 30 days (LTT) vs 2 months (first registration) vs 30 working days (priority search) — these four periods are routinely confused.
• SDLT is the buyer's liability, not the seller's; the solicitor files but the taxpayer is the buyer.
• Wales = LTT/WRA, not SDLT/HMRC.