If you're buying a home in England or Northern Ireland, you'll probably pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). It's the second-biggest cost most buyers face after the deposit, so it's worth understanding before you make an offer — not after. Here's how it actually works in 2026.

The one-sentence version

Stamp duty is a banded tax: you pay 0% on the portion of the price up to a threshold, then progressively higher rates on each chunk above it. It's not a flat percentage on the whole price — only the pounds inside a higher band get charged at the higher rate.

The actual rates

Rates depend on who you are and what you're buying. Three categories cover most people:

Standard rates (home movers)

If you're replacing your only or main residence, you pay:

• 0% on the first £125,000
• 2% on the next £125,000 (the slice from £125,001 to £250,000)
• 5% on the slice from £250,001 to £925,000
• 10% on the slice from £925,001 to £1.5 million
• 12% on anything above £1.5 million

First-time buyer rates

If every buyer on the purchase has never owned a residential property anywhere in the world, you get a relief:

• 0% on the first £300,000
• 5% on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000
• If the price is over £500,000, the relief is lost entirely and standard rates apply to the whole price

Additional property rates

If you'll own another residential property at the end of the day of completion (a second home or buy-to-let), you pay standard rates plus a 5% surcharge on every band, from £40,000 upwards.

And on top of any of those, if you're a non-UK resident at completion, a further 2% is added to every band.

Who pays?

The buyer pays, never the seller. Your solicitor handles the paperwork, files an SDLT return with HMRC within 14 days of completion, and pays the tax on your behalf as part of the completion process. You'll see it on your completion statement as one of the line items you need to fund.

Worked example: a £450,000 home

Let's say you're buying a £450,000 home as a regular home mover. The maths:

• First £125,000 at 0% = £0
• Next £125,000 (£125,001 – £250,000) at 2% = £2,500
• Next £200,000 (£250,001 – £450,000) at 5% = £10,000
• Total SDLT: £12,500

Effective rate: 2.78%. The same property as a first-time buyer is £7,500 (you save the 2% band entirely and pay 5% on a smaller slice).

The five rules that catch people out

1. The first-time buyer cliff at £500,000

If you're a first-time buyer and the property is £500,001 or more, you lose the relief completely. A £501,000 purchase pays £15,050; a £499,000 purchase pays £9,950. That's a £5,100 jump on a £2,000 price difference. Negotiate hard if you're close to the line.

2. Inherited shares disqualify you from FTB relief

Owning even a small share of a property anywhere in the world ends FTB eligibility. Inherited 25% of a parent's house years ago? You're not a first-time buyer for SDLT, even if you've never lived there.

3. Joint buyers count as one

If you're buying with anyone — partner, friend, parent — and any of you already owns a residential property, FTB relief is lost for everyone. Same for the additional-property surcharge: if any buyer owns another home, the whole purchase attracts the higher rates.

4. The 5% surcharge applies even if you're replacing your home — sort of

If you complete on a new home before selling your old one, you'll own two homes at completion. That triggers the 5% surcharge. The good news: sell the old home within three years and you can reclaim the surcharge from HMRC. The bad news: you have to fund the surcharge upfront.

5. Stamp duty is part of buying costs, not your mortgage

You can't include SDLT in your mortgage. It has to be paid in cash on completion. People sometimes underestimate by treating it as part of the borrowing — it's a separate cash requirement on top of the deposit.

How to calculate yours quickly

The fastest way is the main calculator — enter the price, pick the buyer type, and you get a band-by-band breakdown plus an estimate of the total cost to complete. If you want to model two scenarios side by side (say, FTB vs home mover, or two different prices), the calculator has a comparison view.

Quick FTB sanity check

If you're a first-time buyer, run these numbers in your head:

• Under £300,000 → £0 SDLT
• £300,000 – £500,000 → 5% of the bit over £300,000
• Over £500,000 → no relief, full standard rates apply

That's the entire FTB rate table in three lines.

If you're buying a second home or buy-to-let

Add 5% to every band of the standard rates. So a £250,000 buy-to-let pays £15,000 (compared to £2,500 standard), an £400,000 buy-to-let pays £30,000 (compared to £7,500), and so on. The surcharge does not apply below £40,000. Read more on the buy-to-let calculator page or the dedicated stamp duty on second homes article.

If you're a non-UK resident

A separate 2% surcharge stacks on top of everything else. The residency test for SDLT is 183 days in the UK in the 12 months ending on completion. You can reclaim the surcharge if you become UK resident in a continuous 365-day period falling in the two years either side of completion. Use the non-resident calculator to see the impact.

What about Scotland and Wales?

Different taxes, different thresholds. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT); Wales charges Land Transaction Tax (LTT). The calculators and content on this site cover SDLT in England and Northern Ireland only. If you're buying in Scotland or Wales, use a calculator specific to that nation — the numbers will be different.

How rates have changed recently

The current rates have been in place since 1 April 2025, when a temporary increase to thresholds (introduced in the September 2022 "mini-budget") expired. The additional-property surcharge separately jumped from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024. If you're researching a historical purchase, the full chronology is on our SDLT changes timeline.

The bottom line

Stamp duty is one of the most predictable parts of buying a home — banded, public, and capped. The pitfalls are mostly around eligibility (who counts as a first-time buyer, when the surcharge applies, how joint ownership is treated) rather than the maths itself. Run your price through the calculator before you make an offer, and you'll never be surprised on completion day.

Rates last verified against HMRC: 8 May 2026.