Stamp Duty on a £500,000 House

What you'll pay in 2026 — for each buyer type, with the full band-by-band maths

SDC Maintained by the Stamp Duty Calculator editorial team. · Calculated against HMRC published SDLT rates from 1 April 2025 · 16 May 2026

On a £500,000 home purchase in England or Northern Ireland in 2026, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) ranges from £10,000 (first-time buyer) through £15,000 (standard home mover) to £40,000 (additional property / buy-to-let). The exact figure depends on who you are and what you're buying.

£500,000 is the magic number for first-time buyers. It's the cap above which the relief disappears — paying £500,000 saves £5,050 vs paying £500,001, a cliff edge worth knowing about during negotiations.

The headline numbers at £500,000

Buyer typeSDLTEffective rate
First-time buyer£10,0002.00%
Standard home mover£15,0003.00%
Additional property (2nd home / BTL)£40,0008.00%

Non-UK residents add 2% to every band in any of the categories above.

First-time buyer at £500,000

First-time buyers pay £10,000 at this price. FTB relief covers the first £300,000 with 5% on the £300,001-£500,000 slice.

Band-by-band: 0% on the first £300,000 = £0 · 5% on the remaining £200,000 = £10,000. Total: £10,000.

Standard home mover at £500,000

For a home mover replacing their only or main residence:

Band-by-band: 0% on the first £125,000 = £0 · 2% on the next £125,000 = £2,500 · 5% on the remaining £250,000 = £12,500. Total: £15,000.

Additional property at £500,000

For a buy-to-let, second home or any purchase where the buyer will own another residential property at the end of the day of completion:

Band-by-band: 5% on the first £125,000 = £6,250 · 7% on the next £125,000 = £8,750 · 10% on the remaining £250,000 = £25,000. Total: £40,000.

That is £40,000 — note how much larger the additional-property SDLT is than the standard figure. The 5% surcharge applies to every band of the purchase from £40,000 upwards.

Who typically buys at £500,000?

FTBs stretching at the very top of their relief, families moving up in the South East, investors buying mid-market BTL.

Buyer profile at £500,000

£500,000 is a common purchase price for families upgrading to a forever home in higher-value regions, and prime BTL landlords, particularly in Prime London Zone 3, prime Cambridge, prime Winchester, prime Edinburgh. Typical property stock at this price includes four or five-bed detached, prime London Zone 2 flats, Edinburgh Grade-II listed townhouses. On the financing side, a 75% LTV mortgage of £375,000 at 4.6% over 25 years costs about £2,112/month, and a 25% deposit is £125,000; equity releases from previous ownership dominate at this price.

Practical wisdom at this price point: £500k crosses the mid-value threshold where lender product transfer rates become materially more competitive vs SVR. A remortgage at fix-end can save £150-£400/month at this loan size, so build the plan into your budgeting from day one. Use the remortgage savings calculator to model the switch value 2-3 years ahead of the fix end.

Beyond SDLT: the total cost to complete

SDLT is the biggest single cost but not the only one. At £500,000, you should also budget for:

Use the moving costs calculator for an itemised total.

How to negotiate around the bands

Because SDLT is banded, small price differences near a threshold matter — particularly the £500,000 first-time buyer cliff edge where the relief is lost entirely. Other notable thresholds at this price:

Calculate your exact figure

The numbers above are exact for £500,000 — but if you want to model a different price, run a comparison, or get the total cost to complete including all fees, use the calculators:

Sources

Rates last verified against HMRC: 16 May 2026.