UK Stamp Duty Calculator (SDLT) 2026/27

How It Works

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a one-off tax you pay when you buy a residential property in England or Northern Ireland. It works like income tax bands: each rate applies only to the slice of the price inside that band, not to the whole price. So a £300,000 home is not taxed at 5% on all £300,000 — the first £125,000 at 0%, the next £125,000 at 2%, and only the remaining £50,000 at 5%, giving £5,000 in total. The tax therefore rises gradually with price rather than jumping at each threshold.

The standard main-home rates, in force from 1 April 2025, are:

First-time buyer relief is more generous, but it has a hard ceiling. If you have never owned a home before and the property costs £500,000 or less, you pay 0% on the first £300,000 and 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000. Above £500,000 the relief is lost entirely and standard rates apply to the whole price — so a first-time buyer pays £10,000 on a £500,000 home but £15,000.05 on a £500,001 home. All buyers must be first-time buyers, and the property must be your only or main residence.

Two surcharges can apply on top of the banded rates. If buying the property means you will own more than one residential property, you pay 5% on top of the standard rates — which works out to the standard tax plus 5% of the whole price. If you are not a UK resident — present in the UK for fewer than 183 days during the 12 months before your purchase — you pay a further 2% surcharge on the whole price. The surcharges stack: a non-resident buying an additional property pays both. If you are replacing your main residence and sell your previous home within 36 months, you do not pay the extra 5% — and if you paid it because your old home had not sold yet, you can claim a refund.

Buying in Scotland or Wales? SDLT does not apply there. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), with its own bands and first-time buyer relief — use the Revenue Scotland LBTT calculator. Wales charges Land Transaction Tax (LTT), with a higher nil-rate band but no first-time buyer relief — use the Welsh Revenue Authority LTT calculator on GOV.WALES.

Worked Example

Take a £425,000 home. As a main home, the tax is 0% on the first £125,000 (£0), 2% on the next £125,000 (£2,500), and 5% on the remaining £175,000 (£8,750) — a total of £11,250, or 2.65% of the price. As a first-time buyer, the same home costs £6,250: 0% on the first £300,000 and 5% on the remaining £125,000 — a saving of £5,000. As an additional property, the bill is £32,500: the standard £11,250 plus the 5% surcharge on the whole price (£21,250). A non-resident buying it as a main home pays £19,750: the standard £11,250 plus the 2% surcharge (£8,500). As a cross-check, GOV.UK's own example of a £295,000 home gives £4,750, which this calculator reproduces exactly.

How the tax grows with price:

* First-time buyer relief is lost above £500,000, so standard rates apply. The non-resident surcharge would add a further 2% of the price.

Assumptions — and What This Calculator Leaves Out

• Residential freehold in England or Northern Ireland, at the rates published on GOV.UK and checked on 13 November 2026.
• Main home means the property will be your only residential property after the purchase. If you are replacing your main residence, the 5% surcharge does not apply if your previous home is sold within 36 months.
• First-time buyer relief applies only if all buyers are first-time buyers, the property will be their only or main residence, and the price is £500,000 or less.
• Non-resident surcharge applies if you were present in the UK for fewer than 183 days during the 12 months before your purchase. It is charged on the whole price, on top of any other rates.
• Under £40,000, no SDLT is due on a freehold purchase — the calculator returns £0 for those prices.
• Not covered: leasehold purchases (SDLT can also apply to the rent over the lease), shared ownership, buying six or more properties at once, linked purchases, companies and trusts, non-residential or mixed-use property, and refunds. For those, use HMRC's official SDLT calculator.

Sources: GOV.UK — Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates (standard bands, first-time buyer relief, 5% additional-property surcharge and 2% non-resident surcharge) and GOV.UK — Stamp Duty Land Tax overview (14-day payment rule, £40,000 exemption). Last reviewed: 13 November 2026.

Built and tested by SumKitTool — see how we check our numbers.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the property price first — the full price you are paying, not the deposit or the mortgage. Then choose your buyer type: main home if this will be your only property, first-time buyer if you have never owned a home before, or additional property if you will own more than one home after the purchase. Finally, tick the non-resident box if it applies to you. Results update as you type: the headline figure is the total stamp duty due, and the table breaks it down band by band, including each surcharge and the effective rate.

Try the buyer types side by side before you make an offer. The same £425,000 home costs £6,250 for a first-time buyer, £11,250 as a main home, £19,750 for a non-resident and £32,500 as an additional property — a spread of more than £26,000. If you are close to the £500,000 first-time buyer cliff, test prices just above and below it: a small change in the agreed price can swing the tax by £5,000.

Tips and Practical Advice

Budget stamp duty separately from your deposit. It is a one-off tax paid on completion, on top of the deposit and your solicitor's fees. On a £425,000 main-home purchase, that means finding £11,250 in cash alongside your deposit.

Watch the £500,000 first-time buyer cliff. Relief disappears completely above that price, so a first-time buyer pays £10,000 on a £500,000 home but £15,000.05 on a £500,001 home. Knowing exactly where you stand before you offer can save you £5,000.

If you are replacing your main residence, mind the 36-month window. You avoid the 5% additional-property surcharge if your previous home is sold within 36 months of completing the new purchase. If it has not sold by completion day, you pay the higher rates first and claim a refund once the sale goes through — so budget for the higher figure.

Finally, confirm the figure with your solicitor or conveyancer. They usually file the SDLT return and pay the tax on completion day, and the return is due within 14 days — with penalties and interest if it is late.

Frequently Asked Questions