Blake Morgan LLP

Real Estate

John is an experienced real estate lawyer with a background in agricultural and landed estate property work. He has developed a specialisation as an adviser on the stamp duty land tax implications of property transactions and now spends most of his time in this area.

His focus is now on SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) -particularly the 3% surcharge for additional residential properties and SDLT on leases and development transactions.

He is a regular commentator in the media and contributor to the Zoopla web page on the 3% surcharge here, which explains the outline of the surcharge and has links to other resources such as the legislation and HMRC guidance.
John also produces a number of SDLT guides online, as well as stamp duty case notes, intended as short pieces on quirky SDLT issues which arise from day to day. These might be of interest to a variety of people, but are mainly aimed at other property lawyers. An increasing part of John’s practice is acting on a consultancy basis to support conveyancers who advise on SDLT, but sometimes need specialist input.

John’s clients are mainly those needing SDLT advice, including home buyers and those dealing with complex property transactions.