How much stamp duty on a £550,000 house?

On a £550,000 home in England or Northern Ireland in 2026, stamp duty is £17,500 for a standard home mover, £17,500 for a first-time buyer, and £45,000 for an additional property (buy-to-let or second home). Non-UK residents add 2% to every band.

Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty on a £550,000 home?

Yes — the FTB relief disappears above £500,000, so first-time buyers pay £17,500 on a £550,000 home (the same as a standard mover).

When is stamp duty paid on a £550,000 purchase?

Stamp duty is due within 14 days of completion. Your conveyancer typically files the SDLT return and pays HMRC from completion funds on your behalf. Late filing attracts a £100 penalty plus interest on unpaid duty.

Stamp Duty on a £550,000 House

Q: What's the additional property surcharge on £550,000?

Buying a £550,000 home as an additional property (second home or buy-to-let) attracts £45,000 of SDLT — that's £27,500 more than the standard rate. The 5% additional-property surcharge applies above the £40,000 entry threshold and stacks on every band.

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

SDC By Stamp Duty Calculator (drafted with AI assistance, checked against official sources). · Calculated against HMRC published SDLT rates from 1 April 2025. Last verified 26 October 2026.

On a £550,000 home purchase in England or Northern Ireland in 2026, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) ranges from £17,500 (first-time buyer) through £17,500 (standard home mover) to £45,000 (additional property / buy-to-let). The exact figure depends on who you are and what you're buying.

The headline numbers at £550,000

Buyer type	SDLT	Effective rate
First-time buyer	£17,500	3.18%
Standard home mover	£17,500	3.18%
Additional property (2nd home / BTL)	£45,000	8.18%

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

First-time buyer at £550,000

First-time buyer relief does not apply above £500,000. At £550,000 the FTB pays the standard £17,500.

Band-by-band: 0% on the first £125,000 (band £0–£125,000) = £0 · 2% on the next £125,000 (band £125,000–£250,000) = £2,500 · 5% on the next £300,000 (band £250,000–£550,000) = £15,000. Total: £17,500.

Standard home mover at £550,000

For a home mover replacing their only or main residence:

Additional property at £550,000

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 (band £0–£125,000) = £6,250 · 7% on the next £125,000 (band £125,000–£250,000) = £8,750 · 10% on the next £300,000 (band £250,000–£550,000) = £30,000. Total: £45,000.

That's £27,500 more than the standard rate. The 5% additional-property surcharge stacks on every band above the £40,000 entry threshold.

Deposit, mortgage and cash needed at £550,000

Stamp duty is paid on top of your deposit, so the cash you need on completion day is the deposit plus SDLT (plus the fees listed further down). The table shows three common deposit levels at £550,000, with the repayment on the rest of the price. First-time buyer relief does not apply at this price, so first-time buyers pay the home-mover figure.

Deposit %	Deposit amount	Mortgage	Monthly repayment*	Deposit + SDLT (home mover)
10%	£55,000	£495,000	£2,751	£72,500
25%	£137,500	£412,500	£2,293	£155,000
40%	£220,000	£330,000	£1,834	£237,500

*Capital-and-interest repayment over 25 years at an illustrative 4.5% interest rate. This is an assumption to show scale, not a quote or a forecast. At 5.0% the 25%-deposit repayment rises by about £119 a month. Model your own rate and term with the mortgage repayment calculator, and check what you can borrow with the affordability calculator.

Worth knowing at this price: At £550k, standard SDLT is £17,500 vs additional-property SDLT of £45,000 — an extra £27,500 for second homes. If you are a UK homeowner planning to keep your current property and add this as a rental, run the yield maths carefully: an extra £27,500 in SDLT on top requires an additional ~£150/month in net rental income to break even over 15 years.

Threshold context at this price

£500,000: first-time buyer relief disappears entirely — the FTB cliff edge.

£550,000 in other situations

The headline table covers UK-resident buyers in England and Northern Ireland. These are the figures at exactly £550,000 for non-UK residents and for the same price in Scotland and Wales, which have their own taxes.

Situation at £550,000	Tax
Non-UK resident home mover (England/NI, +2%)	£28,500
Non-UK resident, additional property (England/NI, +5% and +2%)	£56,000
Scotland, main home (LBTT)	£28,350
Scotland, first-time buyer (LBTT relief)	£27,750
Scotland, additional property (LBTT + 8% ADS on the whole price)	£72,350
Wales, main home (LTT main rates)	£21,750
Wales, additional property (LTT higher rates)	£48,700

England and NI: SDLT rates from 1 April 2025. Scotland: LBTT bands from 1 April 2021 and the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement for contracts from 5 December 2024 (Revenue Scotland). Wales: LTT main rates from 10 October 2022 and higher rates from 11 December 2024 (Welsh Government). Rates checked 26 October 2026. Model other prices with the non-UK resident, LBTT and LTT calculators.

Worked example: what relief would be worth at £500,000

A first-time buyer at £550,000 pays the standard £17,500, because relief stops completely above £500,000. The same buyer at £500,000 would pay £10,000: £7,500 less SDLT as well as £50,000 less on the price. Between £500,001 and £550,000 there is no partial relief, so a reduction to, say, £525,000 still pays standard rates (£16,250).

For a non-UK resident, the 2% surcharge adds £11,000 at this price, taking a standard purchase to £28,500.

Beyond SDLT: the total cost to complete

SDLT is the biggest single tax but not the only cost. At £550,000, budget for:

Conveyancing legal fees: £1,800–£2,500.
Local-authority searches: ~£320.
Survey (RICS Level 2 HomeBuyer): £900–£1,300.
Mortgage product/arrangement fee: £0–£2,000 (often ~£999).
Mortgage valuation: ~£300 (sometimes waived).
Removals: £2,200–£3,000.
Land Registry registration: £295.
Buildings insurance from exchange: ~£280/year.

Use the home buying cost calculator for an itemised total at this price.

Calculate variations

To model a different price, buyer type or scenario:

Main SDLT calculator — any price, any buyer type
First-time buyer calculator — FTB-specific with relief logic
Buy-to-let calculator — includes the 5% surcharge
Second home calculator — additional-property treatment
Non-UK resident calculator — additional 2% surcharge
Home buying cost calculator — SDLT plus all other fees