Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 section 53

Lease combined with building agreement for dwellinghouse or apartment

Section 53 charges stamp duty on a lease of land where, as part of the same arrangement, a dwellinghouse or apartment has been, is being, or is to be built on that land.

• Where a lease of land is connected with a building agreement for a house or apartment, stamp duty is charged at residential property rates on the combined consideration for the site and the construction works.
• If the combined consideration cannot be ascertained at the date of stamping, the instrument is charged as if the aggregate consideration were 10 times the site's unencumbered open market value.
• If building has not commenced within two years of stamping, the section is treated as never having applied, and the overpaid duty is refundable on application within three years.
• Revenue may require statements or statutory declarations from any person involved in the lease or the building works, or from their solicitors, to determine whether the section applies.