Stamp Duty Explained

Stamp Duty Land Tax is a tax you pay when you buy property or land in England and Northern Ireland above a threshold. Scotland and Wales have their own equivalents.

The three numbers most buyers need: nothing is due below £125,000, first-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000, and an additional property carries a 5% surcharge on top of the standard rates.

It is charged in bands, not on the whole price — so passing a threshold does not retax everything below it. And if you buy before selling your existing home, you can usually reclaim the surcharge if you sell within the time limit, which is money a surprising number of people never claim back.

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Key Takeaways

• SDLT is charged in bands — you pay each rate only on the portion of the price within that band.
• The standard nil-rate band runs up to £125,000.
• First-time buyers pay no SDLT up to £300,000, and 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000, with no relief above £500,000.
• Buying an additional property adds a 5% surcharge on top of the standard rates.

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The standard SDLT bands

For a standard residential purchase in England or Northern Ireland, the rates are:

• £0 – £125,000: 0%
• £125,001 – £250,000: 2%
• £250,001 – £925,000: 5%
• £925,001 – £1.5 million: 10%
• Over £1.5 million: 12%

Because the tax is banded, a £300,000 home is charged 0% on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000 (£2,500), and 5% on the final £50,000 (£2,500) — a total of £5,000, not a flat 5% of the whole price.

Try It: Stamp Duty Calculator

Enter a purchase price to see your SDLT, and switch to the first-time buyer or additional-property options to compare.

First-time buyer relief

If you and anyone you are buying with have never owned a property, you can claim first-time buyer relief:

• 0% on the portion up to £300,000
• 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000
• No relief if the purchase price is above £500,000 (you pay the standard rates instead)

These thresholds dropped from £425,000 and £625,000 on 1 April 2025, so buyers now reach the standard rates sooner. If you are early in the journey, our guide on buying a house walks through the wider process.

The additional-property surcharge

If, at the end of the transaction, you own two or more residential properties and are not replacing your main home, you pay a 5% surcharge on top of the standard rates (raised from 3% on 31 October 2024). This applies to buy-to-lets, holiday homes and second homes.

Our detailed guide covers second home stamp duty, and there is a specific guide to shared ownership stamp duty if you are buying part of a home.

If you buy your new main home before selling your old one, you pay the surcharge upfront but can usually reclaim it if you sell the previous home within three years.

You can often claim the surcharge back

The surcharge refund is the most valuable thing on this page, and the one most often missed.

If you buy your next home before selling your current one, you own two properties on completion day — so you pay the 5% additional-property surcharge, even though you are simply moving house and not building a portfolio.

You can reclaim it. If you sell your previous main residence within three years of the new purchase, the surcharge is refundable. On a £300,000 home that is £15,000 sitting with HMRC waiting to be asked for.

Two things to know about claiming:

• It is not automatic. HMRC does not notice you have sold and send the money back. You have to apply.
• There is a deadline. The claim must be made within 12 months of selling the old home, or 12 months of the filing deadline for the original SDLT return, whichever is later. Miss it and the money is generally gone.

If you bought in the last three years, sold your old home, and never claimed — check. This is one of the few genuinely large refunds available to ordinary buyers.

If you are not resident in the UK

There is a further 2% surcharge for non-UK residents buying residential property in England or Northern Ireland, on top of everything else — so an overseas buyer purchasing an additional property pays the standard rates, plus 5%, plus 2%.

Residence for this purpose is tested on days spent in the UK around the transaction rather than on your tax status generally, and it is possible to become UK-resident after completing and reclaim the 2%. It is worth advice if it applies to you, because the amounts are large.

Buying land and other cases

SDLT can also apply to land purchases, though the rules differ from residential homes — see do you pay stamp duty on land. Non-residential and mixed-use property uses a separate set of bands.

Scotland and Wales are different

SDLT only applies in England and Northern Ireland. If you are buying elsewhere:

• Scotland uses Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT).
• Wales uses Land Transaction Tax (LTT).

Both have their own bands and their own reliefs, so the figures above do not apply there.

How and when you pay

You must file an SDLT return and pay any tax due within 14 days of completion. In practice your conveyancer usually files the return and pays the tax out of the completion funds, then includes it on their invoice.

How is stamp duty calculated?

Stamp duty is banded: each rate applies only to the slice of the price falling within its band, and the slices are then added together.

Do first-time buyers pay any stamp duty?

Not up to £300,000. Between £300,001 and £500,000 you pay 5% on the amount above £300,000. Above £500,000 the standard rates apply with no relief.

When do I have to pay stamp duty?

Within 14 days of completion. Your conveyancer normally handles the return and payment for you.

Does stamp duty apply in Scotland or Wales?

No. Scotland uses LBTT and Wales uses LTT, each with different bands.