Work out the Stamp Duty Land Tax due on a property purchase in England or Northern Ireland. Covers standard purchases, first-time buyers, additional properties, and non-UK residents.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is calculated as a banded percentage of the property price. As of April 2025, no SDLT is due on the first £125,000. The next £125,000 (up to £250,000) is taxed at 2%, the slice from £250,001–£925,000 at 5%, the slice from £925,001–£1.5M at 10%, and any amount above £1.5M at 12%. First-time buyers get relief up to £500,000. Additional properties pay a 5% surcharge on every band, and non-UK residents pay a further 2% on top.
| Band | Rate | Taxable in Band | SDLT in Band |
|---|
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is the buyer's tax on residential property purchases in England and Northern Ireland. It is administered by HMRC under the Finance Act 2003 and applies on completion — your solicitor files the SDLT1 return and pays HMRC within 14 days of the transaction date. Scotland uses Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Wales uses Land Transaction Tax (LTT), both of which run different bands.
SDLT is banded, not flat. For standard residential purchases the 2025-26 rates published on the GOV.UK SDLT residential rates page are: 0% on the first £125,000, 2% on the slice from £125,001 to £250,000, 5% on £250,001 to £925,000, 10% on £925,001 to £1.5m, and 12% on anything above £1.5m. The rate applies only to the portion of the price that falls in each band — exactly like UK income tax. A £400,000 home does not pay 5% on the whole price; it pays nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000, and 5% only on the £150,000 above £250,000.
The 14-day filing window is strict. Miss it and HMRC charges a £100 penalty, rising with further delay. Lenders will also refuse to release final funds without an SDLT5 certificate showing the return is in. For most buyers this is invisible — your conveyancer handles it on completion day as part of the standard chain — but the responsibility legally sits with you, not the solicitor.
First-Time Buyers' Relief replaces the standard bands with a more generous structure, set out in the HMRC SDLT first-time buyer guidance. To qualify, every buyer named on the deed must be a first-time buyer worldwide — never having owned or part-owned a residential property anywhere in the world, including inherited shares — and the property must be intended as your only or main residence.
Under the relief, properties priced up to £500,000 pay nothing on the first £300,000 and 5% on the £300,001-£500,000 slice. Above £500,000 the relief is lost entirely and standard rates apply to the whole price — there is no taper. A first-time buyer on a £400,000 purchase pays £5,000 of SDLT under the relief (5% on £100,000) versus £7,500 at standard rates — a £2,500 saving. On a £300,000 purchase, the saving is £3,750 (zero SDLT versus £3,750 standard) and on a £500,000 purchase the saving rises to £5,000.
If you already own residential property anywhere in the world and you are buying another — a second home, holiday home or buy-to-let — a 5% surcharge applies on top of every standard band, including the £0-£125,000 band that is normally tax-free. The current 5% rate has been in force since 31 October 2024, replacing the previous 3% additional rate.
There are important exceptions. If you are replacing your main residence — selling your current home and buying a new one — the surcharge does not apply, even though you briefly own two properties on completion day. If completion of the sale and purchase do not align, you pay the surcharge up front and reclaim it from HMRC if you sell the previous main residence within 36 months. Buyers from outside the UK (non-resident in the 12 months before completion) face a further 2% Non-Resident Surcharge stacked on top of standard or additional rates, as set out on the HMRC non-UK resident SDLT page.
Example 1 — £300,000 home, first-time buyer. The property is under the £425,000 first-time buyer nil-rate threshold (the relief covers the first £300,000 fully under the £500,000 cap structure). Result: £0 SDLT. Effective rate: 0.00%. This is the same outcome regardless of whether you put down 10% or 25% — SDLT is on the purchase price, not the loan.
Example 2 — £450,000 home, first-time buyer. The property is under £500,000 so the relief applies. The first £300,000 is taxed at 0%. The next £150,000 — the slice from £300,001 to £450,000 — is taxed at 5%, giving £7,500. Total SDLT: £7,500. Effective rate: 1.67%. By comparison the standard-rate bill on the same £450,000 would be £10,000 (£0 on first £125,000, £2,500 on next £125,000, £10,000 on the £200,000 above £250,000), so the relief saves £2,500.
Example 3 — £600,000 second home. Standard rates plus the 5% additional surcharge on every band. Bands: £0-£125,000 at 5% = £6,250. £125,001-£250,000 at 7% (2% + 5%) = £8,750. £250,001-£600,000 at 10% (5% + 5%) = £35,000. Total SDLT: £50,000. Effective rate: 8.33%. The surcharge alone accounts for £30,000 of that bill — and remember first-time buyer relief is unavailable above £500,000, so this is also what a first-time buyer on a £600,000 property would pay at standard rates plus surcharge if it were not their main home.
Run the calculator before making an offer so the SDLT bill is built into your total budget, not bolted on at completion. Use it to compare tenure options — a £475,000 first-time buyer purchase versus a £525,000 one swings SDLT from £8,750 to £16,250 because relief is lost at £500,001. Couples should also model the buy-to-let surcharge before adding a second property: an investor paying £50,000 of SDLT on a £600,000 buy-to-let needs that price growth to offset the surcharge before any real return appears. For final figures on completion day, your conveyancer's SDLT calculation governs — this tool gives you the right ballpark to plan against.
Last reviewed: · See editorial policy