Am I still eligible as a first-time buyer?

Q Since the changes to stamp duty exemptions for first-time buyers up to £250,000 were announced at the last budget, I have been unable to ascertain my status. From 1998 to 2006 I had a 50% share of a shared ownership property, with a housing association acting as leaseholder and owning the remaining 50%. This is the only property I have ever "owned" and since selling I have been renting for the past four years. I hope to purchase a property of my own soon, but cannot find out whether my previous 50% share would disqualify me from the stamp duty exemption or not. Am I still officially a first-time buyer? JW A No I am afraid you're not. The rules say that a first-time buyer is "a person who has not acquired a freehold or leasehold interest in residential property in the UK or an equivalent interest anywhere in the world". Since you acquired a leasehold interest by buying a 50% share in the shared ownership property, you do not qualify for the stamp duty land tax exemption. The fact that you didn't own your former property outright has no bearing.