A buyer in Wales who completes on a new main home before selling their old one is charged the higher residential rate of Land Transaction Tax (LTT) — an extra 5 percentage points on top of the standard rate, on the whole price. Sell the previous home within three years, though, and the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) refunds the difference. On a typical Welsh purchase that refund is worth £10,000 or more, and WRA says most claims are processed in 15 to 20 working days.
This guide sets out exactly how the higher rate applies during a move, how the refund is calculated, and what the WRA needs to see before it pays out.
Why home-movers get charged the "additional property" rate
LTT's higher residential rate exists to tax second homes and buy-to-lets, but it also catches an ordinary chain move. If you complete on your new main home while you still legally own your previous one — even for a few weeks, while conveyancing on the sale catches up — you owned two residential properties on completion day, and the higher rate applies to the whole transaction (Welsh Revenue Authority, Higher rates of Land Transaction Tax: overview).
The rate itself is a flat +5 percentage points added to every standard band, including the portion below the £225,000 nil-rate threshold — confirmed by running the same price through Homecost's Land Transaction Tax calculator with and without the additional-property flag set.
How the refund is worked out
The refund is simply the difference between what you paid at the higher rate and what you'd have paid at the main rate on the same price. WRA's own worked example: buy at £250,000, pay £12,450 at the higher rate, and the main rate on that price would have been £2,450 — a £10,000 refund. Re-running that logic at the 2026 rate bands gives a similar shape but different cash amounts, because the higher-rate bands changed on 11 December 2024:
| Purchase price | Main rate (2026) | Higher rate (2026) | Refund if sold within 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| £180,000 | £0 | £9,000 | £9,000 |
| £225,000 | £0 | £11,250 | £11,250 |
| £250,000 | £1,500 | £14,000 | £12,500 |
| £300,000 | £4,500 | £19,500 | £15,000 |
| £400,000 | £10,500 | £30,500 | £20,000 |
| £500,000 | £18,000 | £43,000 | £25,000 |
| £750,000 | £36,750 | £74,250 | £37,500 |
Figures from Homecost's Land Transaction Tax calculator, 2026 rates, fetched 3 September 2026.
Because the surcharge is a flat 5% of the whole price at every band, the refund is always exactly 5% of the purchase price — £9,000 on a £180,000 purchase, £15,000 on £300,000, and so on. That makes it easy to estimate before you've even claimed: take 5% of what you paid.
There's a detail specific to Wales here. The Welsh-wide median sale price in 2025 was £216,000 — below the £225,000 nil-rate band. For a buyer at that price, the main rate is £0, so the entire higher-rate bill (£10,800 at 5% of £216,000) is refundable in full once the old home sells. That's a materially different shape from England, where the standard nil-rate band sits at £125,000, so most movers still owe some stamp duty even after any refund on the surcharge portion — a cross-border contrast explored in Homecost's guide to the additional-property stamp duty surcharge.
Who can claim, and when
You can apply for the refund if you're the buyer, the solicitor or conveyancer who handled the original purchase (provided they're still acting for you), or someone else authorised to act on your behalf. The core condition: you must have sold your previous main residence within three years of buying the new one. WRA's technical guidance notes that a longer period can apply in specific circumstances — it names fire safety defects and other "relevant restrictions" on selling a property as examples — so anyone close to the three-year mark and stuck for a reason outside their control should check the technical guidance rather than assume the window has simply closed (Welsh Revenue Authority, Higher rates for purchases of residential property: technical guidance, LTTA/8090–8122).
You cannot claim if you or a spouse/civil partner still own any part of the previous main residence, or if the higher rate genuinely applies for some other reason (for example, you own a further buy-to-let alongside the home you sold).
What the WRA actually asks for
The claim is submitted through an online form, and before starting it's worth having the following ready, since the form can't be saved part-way through:
- The 12-digit Unique Transaction Reference Number (UTRN) from the original LTT return
- The effective date of the purchase (usually the completion date)
- The address and postcode of the former main residence
- The buyer's details, including date of birth and whether there were joint buyers
- Evidence the previous home has sold — a signed and dated TR1 or TP1 transfer form, or a contract of sale, if the property was in England or Wales; a completion statement if it was elsewhere
- Bank details for the repayment
WRA explicitly will not accept a TR1/TP1 relating to the new main residence, an unsigned TR1/TP1 for the old one, or an LTT certificate as evidence of the sale — a common paperwork mix-up worth checking for before submitting. Processing typically takes 15 to 20 working days, longer if WRA needs more information.
Compare before you move
Because the refund is predictable — a flat 5% of price, back in full within three to four weeks of the sale completing — it's worth working out both figures (the higher-rate bill you'll pay on completion, and the refund you'll get once the old home sells) before exchange, so the temporary cash-flow gap doesn't come as a surprise. Homecost's Land Transaction Tax calculator runs both scenarios for any price, and the SDLT vs LTT vs LBTT comparison guide is a useful reference if you're moving across the English-Welsh border, alongside Homecost's breakdown of what a Welsh first-time buyer pays that an English one wouldn't. For more UK property cost guides, browse the Homecost blog.
Figures in this article are based on 2026 Land Transaction Tax rates and Homecost's analysis of HM Land Registry transaction data for Wales. This is general information, not advice — speak to a qualified conveyancer or tax adviser about your own claim before acting.