Do I pay the additional rate of SDLT if I rent out my main residence

[Ben Carter]

This might be a bit of an odd one but we currently own our own home and 2 buy to lets. We are planning to do some long-term travelling abroad and want to rent out our home as well for extra income. 

So do I have to pay the additional 3% rate of stamp duty on our home once we rent it out or do we not have to because the additional rate is for second (or more) properties and we technically still only have 2 additional properties despite renting out our main residence? 

No idea who to ask about this who would be able to give a definitive answer so thought I'd start here! 

Thanks! 

[Julia Urquhart]

You only pay the extra 3% SDLT when you purchase a property so renting out your main residence while you travel abroad will not incur any SDLT at all. If you were to continue to rent it out and but another property to live in when you return, then you would pay the extra SDLT on the new purchase.