Councils would no longer pay a tax on additional properties when buying affordable housing stock, under proposals in a new consultation.

Changes to the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS), paid as part of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, would also extend the length of time a buyer moving between properties has to sell their original home in order to be able to reclaim the ADS

Other proposals include amendments to ensure that the treatment of individual and joint buyers is aligned, and an exemption for people buying a new property to live in after divorce or separation if they are required by court to keep their previous home.

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The consultation is open for eight weeks with the proposed changes taking account of stakeholders' responses to a call for evidence last year.

Public Finance Minister Tom Arthur said: "The Additional Dwelling Supplement is an important part of the Scottish Government's fair and progressive approach to tax. It supports our ambition to protect housing opportunities for first-time buyers by making it more expensive for those people who wish to buy additional dwellings like second homes or buy-to-let properties.

"While the ADS operates well in the majority of cases, there are some circumstances where it could work better. These proposed amendments are intended to address a number of concerns which have been expressed and improve fairness.

"In particular, removing the requirement for councils to pay the tax on properties bought for affordable housing will help ensure our wider housing policy aims are met and support the availability of affordable housing across Scotland.

"The measures in this consultation are wide-ranging and I encourage anyone with an interest to give us their feedback on the plans. We will consider all responses carefully before setting out our next steps."