Stamp duty

How it works

Choose where the home is, whether you’re a first-time buyer and whether you’ll keep another home. The calculator applies the right tax — Stamp Duty Land Tax in England and Northern Ireland, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) in Scotland, or Land Transaction Tax (LTT) in Wales.

Like income tax, it works in slices: each rate applies only to the part of the price within its band, not to the whole price. It also shows the deposit plus the tax at 10% down — the cash you’d need before fees.

The rates it uses (from April 2025)

• England and Northern Ireland: nothing to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5 million and 12% above.
• First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland: nothing to £300,000 and 5% from there to £500,000. Above £500,000 there’s no relief.
• Scotland (LBTT): nothing to £145,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £325,000, 10% to £750,000 and 12% above. First-time buyers pay nothing to £175,000, saving up to £600.
• Wales (LTT): nothing to £225,000, 6% to £400,000, 7.5% to £750,000, 10% to £1.5 million and 12% above. There’s no first-time buyer relief.
• Second homes and buy-to-lets of £40,000 or more: an extra 5% of the whole price in England and Northern Ireland, an extra 8% in Scotland, and Wales’s higher rates (5% to 17%) in Wales.

A worked example

A £325,000 home in England. At the standard rates: nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000 (£2,500) and 5% on the last £75,000 (£3,750) — £6,250 in all.

As a first-time buyer: nothing up to £300,000 and 5% on the last £25,000 — £1,250, a saving of £5,000. As a second home it would be £22,500. The same price costs £5,850 in Scotland (£5,250 for a first-time buyer) and £6,000 in Wales.

Questions people ask

Who counts as a first-time buyer?

Everyone buying must never have owned a home, anywhere in the world, and must be going to live in it as their main home. If one of you has owned before, the relief doesn’t apply.

When do I pay it?

In England and Northern Ireland, within 14 days of completion; in Scotland and Wales, within 30 days. Your solicitor or conveyancer usually files the return and pays it for you.

I’m buying before selling my old home. Do I pay the higher rates?

Usually yes, at first. If you then sell your previous main home within three years, you can normally claim the extra back.

Do first-time buyers get any relief above £500,000?

Not in England or Northern Ireland: above £500,000 you pay the standard rates on the whole price. In Scotland the relief applies at any price.