Section 103 Shared ownership leases

Summary

This section exempts from stamp duty certain documents executed in the context of a shared ownership lease.

A shared ownership lease is a concept in property tenure introduced by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992. It applies to residential property only and is intended to assist those on low incomes to purchase their own homes. The lease must be granted by an appropriate person e.g. financial institutions, insurance companies, the National Building Agency, housing co-operatives.

A shared ownership lease operates on the basis that the lessor buys the property. The lessee then buys a part share in the property from the lessor and enters into a lease arrangement with respect to the remainder. The lease will contain a provision enabling the lessee to acquire the remaining equity in the property over time as his or her financial circumstances permit.

Details

(1) “appropriate person” and “shared ownership lease” are self-explanatory. Only an appropriate person may grant a shared ownership lease. An appropriate person is—

• a licensed bank,
• a building society,
• an insurance company (life or non-life),
• a body approved by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government,
• the National Building Agency Ltd,
• a housing co-operative, or
• other self-help housing groups certified by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government.

A shared ownership lease is one which is granted for a term of between 20 and 100 years on payment to the lessor of between 25% and 75% of the market value of the house and which gives to the lessee the right to buy out, in one or more transactions and on the terms specified in the lease, all the interest of the lessor in the house. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government controls by regulations the class of persons to whom property may be leased in this way.

(2) A shared ownership lease or any instrument whereby the lessee acquires the remaining equity in a property subject to the lease is exempt from stamp duty.

(3) Relief will be granted where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that the lessor is an appropriate person. To enable the Revenue Commissioners to decide whether relief should be granted in any particular case a completed adjudication warrant should be submitted to them together with the original and a copy of the executed instrument and evidence of the status of the lessor.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2014