Stamp duty calculator work out what you'll owe

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax charged on property and land purchases above a set price threshold in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales have their own equivalent taxes, covered later in this guide. A stamp duty calculator works out roughly what you'll owe by applying the current rates and thresholds to your purchase price, buyer type, and circumstances.

How much you pay depends on several things: the price of the property, whether you're a first-time buyer, whether you'll own more than one residential property once the purchase completes, and whether you're a UK or non-UK resident. Each of these can change your bill significantly, so it's worth working through the sections below that apply to your situation.

Stamp duty is charged on a banded basis, similar to Income Tax. You only pay the higher rate on the portion of the price that falls within each band, not on the whole purchase price. The nil-rate threshold reverted to £125,000 on 1 April 2025, down from a temporarily raised £250,000 threshold that applied before then.

These are the rates that apply if you're moving home and don't qualify for first-time buyer relief or face the additional property surcharge. The next few sections explain how those two things change the amount you owe.

If you and everyone else named on the purchase have never owned a residential property anywhere in the world, you may qualify for first-time buyer relief. It reduces or removes the stamp duty due, but it isn't applied automatically, your solicitor has to claim it on the return submitted to HMRC.

If you're buying jointly and only one of you is a genuine first-time buyer, relief isn't available on any part of the purchase, standard rates apply to the whole price instead. For a full breakdown of eligibility, shared ownership rules, and how stamp duty affects your deposit, see our dedicated guide to first-time buyer stamp duty.

If you'll own more than one residential property once your purchase completes, an additional 5% surcharge is added on top of the standard rate. Unlike the standard nil-rate band, the surcharge applies from the very first pound of the price, so there's no tax-free portion.

There's an exception if you're replacing your main residence: if your previous home sells within 36 months of completing on the new one, you can reclaim the surcharge from HMRC. Landlords should also check how stamp duty interacts with other property taxes in our guide to buy-to-let tax, and first-time landlords can find more on getting started in our first-time landlord guide.

If you're classed as a non-UK resident for stamp duty purposes, you pay a further 2% surcharge on top of whichever rate would otherwise apply, whether that's the standard rate, first-time buyer relief, or the additional property surcharge. This is based on the number of days you've spent in the UK in the 12 months before the purchase, not your nationality, so it can catch out UK nationals who've been living abroad.

For example, a non-UK resident buying a £350,000 home as their only property pays £14,500 in stamp duty, once the 2% surcharge is added to the standard rate. A non-UK resident buying the same property as a second home would pay £32,000, once both the 5% additional property surcharge and the 2% non-resident surcharge are applied.

If you're buying in Scotland, you pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) instead of SDLT. First-time buyers benefit from a raised nil-rate threshold of £175,000, rather than the standard £145,000.

Buying an additional residential property in Scotland means paying the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) on top of the standard LBTT rate. Unlike the SDLT surcharge in England, the ADS is charged as a flat 8% of the whole purchase price, rather than being applied band by band.

If you're buying in Wales, you pay Land Transaction Tax (LTT). There's no separate first-time buyer relief, but the nil-rate threshold of £225,000 is already higher than the standard England and Northern Ireland threshold, which softens the difference for many buyers.

Additional residential properties in Wales are charged at separate higher rates, rather than a flat surcharge added to the standard bands.

Non-residential and mixed-use property, such as shops, offices, or a flat above a commercial unit, is charged at different SDLT rates to residential purchases. The additional property surcharge and first-time buyer relief don't apply to non-residential purchases.

Leasehold purchases are also charged SDLT on the rent payable over the life of the lease, in addition to the rate on the purchase price above: 0% up to £150,000, 1% from £150,001 to £5 million, and 2% above £5 million. If you're buying a property such as a flat above a shop for buy-to-let purposes, see our guide to flat above shop mortgages for more on how lenders treat these properties.

Percentages are easier to picture as real figures. The table below shows how much stamp duty is due on a £350,000 property, depending on your buyer type and where you're buying.

Stamp duty also scales sharply as the property price rises, since higher bands are taxed at higher rates. The table below shows the standard rate due at different price points for a home mover in England or Northern Ireland.

Stamp duty isn't something you pay directly to HMRC or the relevant tax authority yourself in most cases, your solicitor or conveyancer handles the return and payment as part of completing your purchase.

One of the most overlooked parts of buying a home is that stamp duty has to come out of your own savings, it can't be added to your mortgage. This means the money you set aside for stamp duty isn't available to boost your deposit.

Say you've saved £50,000 towards a £350,000 property. If £7,500 of that goes towards stamp duty, you're left with £42,500 as your actual deposit, around 12% of the purchase price rather than 14.3%. That difference can be enough to push you into a higher loan-to-value band, which may narrow the range of mortgage deals available to you.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it. It's worth thinking through your overall budget, including stamp duty, legal fees, survey costs and moving costs, before committing to a purchase. Our guide to the costs of moving home covers these other costs in more detail.

If you're concerned about affordability, or you're weighing up stamp duty alongside other debts, MoneyHelper provides free, impartial guidance on budgeting and managing debt. You can also call them on 0800 138 7777.