Mudan case: The man on the Clapham omnibus

The man on the ‘Clapham omnibus’ would recognise that a three-bed semi in Clapham is a family house and while he might be horrified about how much stamp duty land tax he has to pay he would nonetheless expect to pay that tax at residential (rather than commercial) rates even if that property has not been spruced up.

Then came the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) case of PN Bewley Ltd (TC6951) and a Pandora’s Box was opened.

On its facts the FTT came to a very sensible view in the case of Bewley. It looked at what counted as a dwelling for the purposes of the higher rates for additional dwellings (HRAD) namely that it is ‘used as or suitable for use as a single dwelling’ (FA 2003 Sch 4ZA Pt 3 para 18) and decided that the property in question which comprised a bungalow...