If my partner has owned a home before, do I lose first-time buyer status?

Yes — if your partner has ever owned residential property (a flat, a house, or even an inherited share), you both lose first-time buyer stamp duty relief when you buy together. HMRC applies the test to every person named on the deed: one disqualified buyer disqualifies the whole purchase. The same rule applies to your Lifetime ISAs — you can’t use them penalty-free unless all named buyers are genuine first-time buyers.

What does “first-time buyer” actually mean for SDLT?

It means you (and every other named purchaser) have never acquired a major interest in a dwelling in the UK or anywhere else in the world, whether by purchase, gift, or inheritance. “Major interest” means a freehold or a lease with more than 21 years left. A holiday home in Greece counts. A 30% share of an inherited cottage in Cornwall counts. Even a property owned and later sold decades ago counts — there is no “cooling-off” period that resets the clock.

This is set out in paragraph 6 of Schedule 6ZA of the Finance Act 2003, introduced in November 2017. The rule is deliberately tight: HMRC wanted to stop parents “gifting” FTB status to children by keeping the deed in the child’s sole name.

The headline numbers for April 2026

First-time buyer SDLT relief in England and Northern Ireland (since 1 April 2025):

Purchase price	FTB relief (both buyers qualify)	Standard rates (one or both are not FTBs)
£0 – £125,000	0%	0%
£125,001 – £250,000	0%	2%
£250,001 – £300,000	0%	5%
£300,001 – £500,000	5%	5%
Above £500,000	Relief lost — standard rates apply from £0	Standard rates

Worked example — a £425,000 house in the South East, April 2026:

Both buyers are first-time buyers: £6,250 SDLT (5% on the £300k–£425k slice).
One buyer has previously owned a home: £11,250 SDLT (standard rates).

That’s an extra £5,000 cost at the start, plus the knock-on loss of Lifetime ISA bonuses (see below).

A young couple discussing first-time buyer status on their sofa — Every named buyer must be a genuine first-time buyer — one previous owner disqualifies the whole transaction.

Can we just buy in the first-time buyer’s sole name?

Legally, yes — and many couples do exactly this. But it comes with trade-offs that usually outweigh the SDLT saving:

Affordability halves. Lenders use only one income for a sole-name application. A couple on £45k + £32k = £77k combined moves from a ~£350k borrowing capacity to the sole earner’s ~£200k.
Only one income for the stress test. Even if you gift your partner the deposit, they aren’t a borrower, so their salary can’t be counted.
Legal and emotional risk. The non-buyer has no ownership share. A declaration of trust can fix this, but it’s an extra £300–£600 and doesn’t restore joint-and-several mortgage liability.
Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (JBSP) doesn’t help — the non-FTB partner being named on the mortgage (even as a borrower, not owner) still prevents FTB SDLT relief, because HMRC’s test is on the deed, but lenders differ and some count JBSP borrowers for the surcharge anyway. Run the numbers through our stamp duty calculator before assuming JBSP is a workaround.

Rule of thumb: buying in sole name only saves you money if the SDLT saving (often £3,000–£11,000) is bigger than the opportunity cost of reduced borrowing power and the admin of a declaration of trust.

Does the Lifetime ISA follow the same rule?

Almost exactly. For your Lifetime ISA funds and bonus to be used penalty-free on a house purchase, every named buyer must be a first-time buyer under the LISA definition (never owned a residential property anywhere in the world). If one partner is not, that partner’s LISA cannot be used for the house without triggering the 25% withdrawal charge — they either keep it for retirement (access at 60) or withdraw and lose the bonus plus ~6.25% of their own money.

The FTB partner’s LISA is fine to use, as long as the property is £450,000 or below and bought via a residential mortgage through a conveyancer.

Edge case: inheritance

If your partner inherited a 20% share of a family home at some point, that is a “major interest” under HMRC rules, and they are not a first-time buyer. The only small exception: if the inherited interest was disposed of before 22 November 2017, the rules don’t bite retrospectively (the relief only started then). But any ownership since that date — including tiny inherited shares — disqualifies.

There is no way to “un-own” a past property. Once the FTB clock has been broken, it stays broken.

This is information, not regulated advice. Speak to a qualified conveyancer about your specific SDLT position before exchange.