HomeBuyingCosts Guide
What Is Stamp Duty? UK Rates & Bands 0%–12% (2026/27)
Written and reviewed by James Whitfield · Updated 2026-02-17 · 6 min read
Checked against 2026/27 HMRC, Revenue Scotland & HM Land Registry rates · Editorial standards · Methodology
Understand how property transaction tax is calculated across the UK and how to budget with confidence before making an offer.
Quick answer
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax you pay when you buy property or land above a threshold in England and Northern Ireland. For a standard home you pay 0% up to £125,000, 2% on £125,001–£250,000, 5% on £250,001–£925,000, 10% on £925,001–£1,500,000 and 12% above — charged slice by slice, not on the whole price.1 First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000. Scotland charges LBTT2 and Wales charges LTT3 instead, each with its own bands.
Key takeaways
- SDLT starts at £125,000 for a home mover; below that you pay nothing.1
- It's a slice tax — 0%, 2%, 5%, 10% then 12%, each on its own band.1
- First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000 and get relief up to £500,000.2
- Second homes carry a 5% surcharge on the whole price.3
- Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have separate rates entirely.45
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is the tax you pay when you buy a home or land over £125,000 in England or Northern Ireland. It's charged in slices — a different rate on each chunk of the price — so the effective rate is always lower than the top band you reach.1 Scotland and Wales don't use SDLT at all: they charge LBTT4 and LTT5 instead, with their own thresholds.
This is the plain-English version: what the tax is, how the slice system actually works with a real worked example, who pays more, and where the money and deadlines land. No jargon.
Worked examples — home mover typical fees
| Price | England/NI tax | Scotland tax | Wales tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| £300,000 | £5,000 | £4,600 | £4,500 |
| £500,000 | £15,000 | £23,350 | £18,000 |
| £750,000 | £27,500 | £48,350 | £36,750 |
The 2026/27 rates in one table
For a standard home (you're replacing your only or main residence), these are the bands:
| Portion of price | Standard rate | First-time buyer rate |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% | 0% |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 2% | 0% |
| £250,001 to £300,000 | 5% | 0% |
| £300,001 to £500,000 | 5% | 5% |
| £500,001 to £925,000 | 5% | 5% (no FTB relief) |
| £925,001 to £1,500,000 | 10% | 10% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 12% | 12% |
First-time buyer relief applies only if the price is £500,000 or less; above that, standard rates apply to the whole price.2
How the slices work — a £350,000 example
Say you're moving home and buying at £350,000. People expect one rate on the whole lot; that's not how it works. You pay:
| Price band | Rate | Portion taxed | SDLT due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% | £125,000 | £0 |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 2% | £125,000 | £2,500 |
| £250,001 to £925,000 | 5% | £100,000 | £5,000 |
| Total SDLT | £350,000 | £7,500 |
Each rate hits only the slice inside its band.1
Total: £7,500. That's an effective rate of 2.1%, not 5%, because the lower slices are taxed at 0% and 2% first.
A first-time buyer buying the same £350,000 home pays just £2,500 — relief zeroes the tax up to £300,000 and charges 5% only on the last £50,000.2
Who pays more, and why
Three things move the number: whether you've owned a home before, whether you'll end up owning more than one, and which nation you're buying in.
• First-time buyers get the biggest break — up to £5,000 off in England, provided the price is £500,000 or less and everyone on the deal qualifies.2
• Additional-property buyers pay a 5% surcharge on the entire price. On a £350,000 second home that's an extra £17,500, taking the bill to £25,000.3
• Location matters: the same £350,000 home costs £8,350 in Scotland (LBTT)4 and £7,500 in Wales (LTT).5
When and how you pay
You don't send HMRC a cheque yourself. Your solicitor files the SDLT return and pays the tax within 14 days of completion, using money you transfer to them beforehand. Miss the window and HMRC charges penalties and interest, so it's built into the completion timeline.6
Even if your purchase is under the threshold and no tax is due, a return may still be needed — your conveyancer will tell you.
The mistakes that cost people money
• Quoting the top band as if it applied to the whole price — it never does. Always work slice by slice.
• Forgetting the 5% surcharge because a property is abroad or only part-owned. If you'll own more than one home anywhere in the world at completion, it usually applies.3
• Reusing an English calculation for a Scottish or Welsh purchase. Different tax, different bands, different answer.
• Treating a stamp-duty holiday memory as current. The thresholds reverted on 1 April 2025 — £125,000 for movers, £300,000 for first-time buyers.1
Use the calculator for this topic
Frequently asked questions
What is stamp duty in simple terms?+
It's a tax on buying property or land over £125,000 in England and Northern Ireland, paid slice by slice at rising rates from 0% to 12%.1
At what price do you start paying stamp duty?+
£125,001 for a home mover. First-time buyers pay nothing until £300,001.12
Is stamp duty paid on the whole price or in slices?+
In slices. Each rate applies only to the part of the price within its band, so a £350,000 purchase costs £7,500 — an effective 2.1%, not 5%.1
Do Scotland and Wales charge stamp duty?+
No. Scotland charges LBTT and Wales charges LTT, each with its own bands and thresholds.45
When do I pay it?+
Within 14 days of completion, filed and paid by your solicitor on your behalf.6
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty?+
Not up to £300,000, and a reduced amount up to £500,000. Above £500,000 there's no relief.2
Sources & references
OfficialThe figures and rules on this page are drawn from the official UK government sources below. Rates are the confirmed 2026/27 amounts. Each link opens the relevant official page in a new tab.
- GOV.UK — SDLT residential property rates www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates Current band-by-band residential SDLT rates for 2026/27.
- GOV.UK — First-time buyers' SDLT relief www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates#first-time-buyers Relief: nil-rate to £300,000, 5% to £500,000, none above £500,000.
- GOV.UK — Higher rates for additional properties www.gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-buying-an-additional-residential-property The 5% additional-property surcharge and 36-month refund rules.
- Revenue Scotland — Land and Buildings Transaction Tax revenue.scot/taxes/land-buildings-transaction-tax Scottish LBTT residential rates and the Additional Dwelling Supplement.
- Welsh Revenue Authority — Land Transaction Tax rates www.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-rates-and-bands Welsh LTT residential rates and bands.
- GOV.UK — Pay Stamp Duty Land Tax www.gov.uk/pay-stamp-duty-land-tax Filing the SDLT return and paying within 14 days of completion.
Verified against published UK government guidance. See also Methodology and Editorial standards.
Written and reviewed by James Whitfield and the HomeBuyingCosts editorial team.
Stamp duty, LBTT and LTT figures are checked against GOV.UK, Revenue Scotland and GOV.WALES. We explain every cost of buying a home in plain English, with worked examples. Editorial standards · About us