What is Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)?
Stamp Duty Land Tax is a tax you pay to HMRC when you buy a residential property or piece of land in England or Northern Ireland above a certain price. It is one of the largest single up-front costs of buying a home — bigger than your solicitor's fee, your survey, and your removal van combined — and unlike most buying costs, it cannot be deducted from your mortgage offer or paid in instalments. Within 14 days of completion, the full amount must land in HMRC's bank account, normally via your conveyancing solicitor.
SDLT is a slice tax, not a slab tax. That means each portion of the purchase price is taxed at a different rate — you don't suddenly jump to a higher rate on the whole price when you cross a threshold. Buying at £260,000 only taxes that final £10,000 at 5%, not the whole price. This is the same principle as UK income tax bands.
What are the current SDLT rates in 2026?
As of 2026, standard SDLT is 0% up to £125,000, then 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5m and 12% above — the rates set on 1 April 2025. The temporary "stamp duty holiday" thresholds introduced in 2022 expired on 31 March 2025, raising costs for most buyers — particularly first-time buyers, who lost £125,000 of relief overnight. These rates remain in force for 2026, with no changes announced in the Autumn 2025 Budget.
Source: HMRC — SDLT residential property rates (correct as of 2026-07-17).
Standard residential rates (home movers)
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% |
| £125,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 – £925,000 | 5% |
| £925,001 – £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Above £1,500,000 | 12% |
First-time buyer rates
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|
| Up to £300,000 | 0% |
| £300,001 – £500,000 | 5% |
| Above £500,000 | No relief — standard rates apply to whole price |
The £500,000 cliff edge is brutal: a first-time buyer paying £499,999 owes about £10,000 in SDLT, but at £500,001 they lose the relief entirely and owe £15,000 — roughly a £5,000 jump for spending one extra pound.
What is the additional-property surcharge?
If you'll own more than one residential property anywhere in the world after the purchase, and you're not replacing your main home, you pay an extra 5% on every band. This surcharge rose from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024 in the Autumn Budget and now applies from £40,000 upwards (so the 0% band is effectively wiped out for additional properties).
What is the non-UK resident surcharge?
Non-UK residents buying residential property pay a further 2% on every band, on top of any other rate that applies. This means an overseas buyer purchasing a second UK property could be paying 19% on the top slice.
For SDLT you count as non-UK resident if you were present in the UK on fewer than 183 days in the 12 months before completion — a simpler test than the income-tax Statutory Residence Test. If you later become UK-resident by spending 183 days here in the 12 months after completion, you can reclaim the 2% from HMRC. See HMRC's non-UK resident SDLT guidance.
How does first-time buyer relief work?
First-time buyers pay 0% SDLT up to £300,000 and 5% from £300,001 to £500,000 — but only if every buyer has never owned a home and the price is £500,000 or less. To qualify, each buyer named on the purchase must have never previously owned any residential property anywhere in the world, including inherited shares, foreign holiday homes, and buy-to-let interests. If you and your partner are buying jointly and only one of you is a first-time buyer, neither qualifies and standard rates apply to the entire purchase.
The other key trap is the £500,000 cliff. Above this price, relief disappears completely — not gradually. This makes the £495,000–£505,000 price range very sensitive in negotiations: a few thousand pounds either way changes your tax bill by thousands.
Negotiation tip
If you're a first-time buyer and the asking price is £505,000, it is genuinely worth asking the seller to drop to £500,000. At £505,000 your SDLT is £15,250 (relief is lost, so standard rates apply to the whole price). At £500,000 it is just £10,000. You save £5,250 in tax — more than the £5,000 you'd knock off the price.
How does the 5% second-home surcharge work?
If you'll own more than one residential property after completion and aren't replacing your main home, you pay a 5% surcharge on top of every band, on purchases of £40,000 or more. This Higher Rates for Additional Dwellings (HRAD) charge catches buy-to-let landlords, holiday-home buyers, parents purchasing for their children, and anyone buying before they have managed to sell their existing home.
The good news for chain-breakers: if you're buying a new main residence and haven't yet sold the old one, you pay the 5% surcharge up front but can reclaim it if you sell your previous main home within 36 months of completion. The refund isn't automatic — you apply through HMRC's online portal, and you must claim by the later of 12 months after the sale or 12 months after the filing date of your SDLT return, whichever is later.
Can I still claim Multiple Dwellings Relief?
No — Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) was abolished for transactions completing on or after 1 June 2024. MDR used to cut the SDLT bill on bulk purchases of two or more dwellings by taxing the average price per dwelling. It no longer exists, unless you exchanged contracts on or before 6 March 2024 and have not varied them since. Buyers of a house with a self-contained annexe, or several flats in one deal, can no longer use it to reduce their bill. See HMRC's MDR abolition guidance.
How does stamp duty differ in Scotland and Wales?
Only England and Northern Ireland charge SDLT. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax (LTT), each with its own bands and thresholds. The three UK property purchase taxes work differently depending on where the property is:
- England & Northern Ireland — Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), administered by HMRC. This is what this calculator computes.
- Scotland — Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), administered by Revenue Scotland. Different bands, with the 0% threshold at £145,000 (£175,000 for first-time buyers).
- Wales — Land Transaction Tax (LTT), administered by the Welsh Revenue Authority. No first-time buyer relief, but a higher 0% threshold of £225,000 for everyone.
The differences can be substantial. On a £400,000 purchase, an English home mover pays £7,500 in SDLT, while a Welsh buyer pays £7,200 in LTT and a Scottish buyer pays £13,350 in LBTT. Always check the rates for the country you are buying in, not the country you live in.
What does it cost to add stamp duty to your mortgage?
You can't add SDLT to a mortgage directly, but borrowing more to cover it is costly — a £15,000 bill financed at 4.5% over 25 years costs about £25,000, roughly £10,000 of it pure interest. Stamp duty is a cash tax: HMRC will not accept a promise to pay or an instalment plan. Yet for many buyers, finding £10,000–£20,000 on top of a deposit is impossible — so they roll the cost into their mortgage by borrowing more against the property.
This is how SDLT quietly becomes one of the most expensive items in your home purchase — the true price of choosing not to pay cash. Use the panel above to see exactly what your own bill would cost financed over your mortgage term.
If you can possibly avoid it, paying SDLT in cash will always be cheaper than borrowing it. But if you do have to add it to the mortgage, two things help dramatically:
- Aggressive overpayments early on. Use our mortgage overpayment calculator to see how directing extra cash at the mortgage in the first few years can wipe out the SDLT slice well before the term ends.
- Remortgaging at every deal end. Don't lapse onto SVR. Even half a percent saved across 25 years on £15,000 of borrowing makes a meaningful dent in the true cost.
Which what-if scenarios should you model?
The what-ifs worth modelling are the rate thresholds — £125k, £250k, £300k and the £500k first-time-buyer cliff — and the cost of financing SDLT through your mortgage. The "what-if" panel above shows your SDLT bill at three nearby price points. A few things to think about as you play with the numbers:
- The £125,000, £250,000 and £300,000 thresholds are where the rate steps up. If a property is priced just above one, see whether the seller will meet you just below.
- For first-time buyers, the £500,000 line is the most expensive cliff in the entire UK property market. Never pay £505,000 if you can pay £500,000.
- For additional property buyers, the surcharge kicks in from £40,000. There is no nil-rate band at all on a buy-to-let purchase.
- Always model the effect of including stamp duty in your mortgage, especially on borderline affordability. £15,000 on the mortgage at 4.5% adds about £83 a month to your payment — small enough to absorb, but large enough to compound against you for decades.
When and how do you pay stamp duty?
You must pay SDLT to HMRC within 14 days of completion, and in practice your conveyancing solicitor files the SDLT return and pays it on your behalf. A few days before completion, they'll send you a final completion statement listing every cost — including SDLT — and ask you to transfer the full amount into their client account. On completion day, they pay HMRC and file the SDLT return on your behalf. You should receive an SDLT5 certificate as proof of payment within a couple of weeks.
The legal deadline is 14 days from completion. Late filing triggers an automatic £100 penalty, escalating with further tax-geared penalties and interest the longer the return and payment stay outstanding. In practice, no competent conveyancer will let you breach this — but it's worth knowing why your solicitor will be very firm about needing the funds before completion. See HMRC — pay Stamp Duty Land Tax.
A worked example: three buyers, one £450,000 house
The same £450,000 house produces three very different bills. A home mover pays nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000 (£2,500) and 5% on the remaining £200,000 (£10,000), so £12,500 in total. A first-time buyer pays nothing on the first £300,000 and 5% on the remaining £150,000, so £7,500, a saving of £5,000. A buyer who already owns another home and is keeping it pays the 5% surcharge on every slice, adding £22,500, for a bill of £35,000.
First-time buyer relief stops completely above £500,000. A first-time buyer paying £520,000 doesn't get relief on the first £500,000; they pay the standard rates on the whole price, £16,000.
Timing and refunds
Stamp duty is due within 14 days of completion, and your conveyancer normally files the return and pays it for you. If you pay the surcharge because you buy a new main home before selling your old one, you can usually claim it back if you sell the old home within three years. Budget for the full surcharge at completion anyway, because the refund comes later.
Scotland and Wales have their own taxes, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Land Transaction Tax, with different bands and reliefs. This calculator covers England and Northern Ireland only.
For a longer walk-through, see our guide stamp duty for first-time buyers, which compares England, Scotland and Wales at every price.